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The Vanished Emperor 


Percy Andreae, 

Author of Stanhope of Chester,” etc. 



Chicago and New York: 
Rand, McNally & Company. 
MDCCCXCVI. 


TZS 

, A 55toV 


Copyright, i8q6, by Rand, McNally & Co. 


/ 


INSCRIBED 

WITH PROFOUND RESPECT AND HUMBLE 
APOLOGIES 
TO 

A SOVEREIGN 

WHOSE GENIUS HE ADMIRES 
BY 

THE AUTHOR. 




NOTE 


In dealing, as I have done in another place, with certain 
more oV less striking minor incidents in the life of the 
famous old diplomatist Sir John Templeton, I have, as one 
or the other of my readers may know, taken no pains 
to conceal the names of the actual personages and local- 
ities concerned. In the following story, however, I have 
adopted a different and, as some may think, rather 
peculiar course. I feel, therefore, that it requires a word 
of explanation. 

When the disguise under which eminent living per- 
sonages are introduced as characters into a work of 
fiction is so thin as to be practically no disguise, it is 
only natural to ask why the author should have paraded 
them in such mummery at all. Ordinarily there are two 
alternative reasons for such a course; either the hope 
of adding a fiavor to scandal by exciting the reader’s 
curiosity, or the desire to avoid giving offense where none 
is intended. 

Let me say, then, at once that it is with no desire of pan- 
dering to the reader’s love of the mysterious, nor from 
any fear of offending against the canons of good taste, 
that I have given the chief actors in the partly imagin- 
ative drama unfolded in the following pages names which 
have no existence in fact. My object in doing so is alto- 
gether different. The story of the disappearance of the 
Emperor Willibald is, as every well-informed reader will 
see on perusing its first few pages, a mixture of truth 
and fiction, and it is largely, if not entirely, for the pur- 
pose of emphasizing this circumstance that I have in- 
vented transparently fictitious names for those personages 
whose share in the events described is more or less based 
on assumed facts. It would, of course, have been simple, 
and had it been a question only of personal consideration 
I would not have hesitated for a moment, to call the 


Vi 


NOTE. 


Emperor Willibald of Arminia the Emperor William of 
Germany, the Duke of Cumbermere the Duke of Cum- 
berland, Franconia France, Brandenburg Prussia, 
Noveria Hanover, Prince Ottomarck Prince Otto von Bis- 
marck, and so forth. That I have not done so is merely 
for the reason that, although everything that is true of 
the German Emperor William II is also true of the 
Arminian Emperor Willibald, not all that is true of the 
Arminian Emperor Willibald can be said to be true of the 
German Emperor William II. 

My story, then, though so far as Sir John Templeton is 
concerned it records a very real episode in his extraor- 
dinary career, purports to be no more than a romance 
built up on a mosaic basis of fact and fiction, and as 
such I trust it will in fairness be regarded. Perhaps 
those readers who are acquainted with the inner history 
of the present dynastic relationships in Germany, which 
are the outgrowth of the historical events of the last 
forty years, may recognize even in those incidents of the 
story which apparently fly in the face of all historical 
fact a certain substratum of actuality that may claim, so 
to speak, to be at least a colorable imitation of the truth. 
By a somewhat different choice of certain names and 
localities, indeed, I could easily have rendered such imita- 
tion more perfect still. But to have done so would have 
been to frustrate the main purpose I have kept in view in 
writing this history, namely, to remove those very inci- 
dents I have just referred to as much as possible from 
the realm of actual fact and reality. 

Whether I have acted wisely in pursuing this course 
is a question on which I may safely leave the reader to 
judge for himself. 








FIRST BOOK — The Mystification. 

Chapter I. — A Missing Emperor. 

Chapter II.— Partly Diplomatic. 


SECOND BOOK — ^The Complication. 

Chapter III.— Imperial Berolingen. 

Chapter IV. — ^An Interview with the Imperial Secretary. 
Chapter V. — The Dowager Empress Fritz. 

Chapter VI. — Princess Margaret of Brandenburg. 
Chapter VII.— A Midnight Conference. 

Chapter VIII.— The Empress’ State Ball. 

Chapter IX.— The Mending of a Torn Flounce of Lace. 
Chapter X.— A Fateful Letter. 


THIRD BOOK— The Revelation. 

Chapter XI.— Arnoldshausen. 

Chapter XII.— The Meeting of the Arminian Sovereigns. 
Chapter XIII.— How the Revolution of Berolingen was 
Averted. 

Chapter XIV.— The Armenian Emperor and His Chan- 
cellor. 

Chapter XV.— In the Imperial Ante-Chamber. 

Chapter XVI.— The Revelation: Part One. 

Chapter XVII. — The Revelation: Part Two. 

Chapter XVIII.— How the Noverian Question was Settled. 








THE VANISHED EMPEROR 

BOOK FIRST. 

THE MYSTIFICATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

A MISSING EMPEROR. 

Those whose memories carry them back a few 
years will not have forgotten the sensation pro- 
duced throughout Europe when, in spite of the 
most stupendous efforts to keep the fact from be- 
coming public, the news suddenly leaked out that 
the young Arminian Emperor, Willibald II, had 
mysteriously disappeared. 

The first intimation of this extraordinary event 
w^as conveyed to the people of Great Britain, and, 
indeed, to the world in general, by a short para- 
graph which appeared printed in bold type, in a 
well-known London morning paper to the follow- 
ing effect: 


2 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“Just before going to press intelligence of a most 
unprecedented kind reaches us from Berolingen. His 
Majesty the Emperor Willibald is reported to be miss- 
ing. The greatest consternation prevails at the Ar- 
minian court and in official circles generally. Strin- 
gent measures have been adopted to prevent the news 
from spreading in the country. Last evening’s edition 
of the Berolingen Gazette, in which the first reference 
was made to the astounding rumor, has been confiscat- 
ed, and the editor has been placed under arrest.” 

It is almost needless to say that the most credu- 
lous among a sensation-loving public at first re- 
ceived this astonishing paragraph with a smile of 
utter incredulity. Anything in the world would 
have been more readily believed of the young 
Emperor, upon whom, since his accession to 
power, the eyes of all Europe had been fixed, than 
the fact of his having thus vanished from men’s 
view. No other potentate was more constantly 
in evidence, none more deeply convinced of the 
paramount importance to mankind of his presence 
on earth. To think of him being calmly reported 
as missing, for all the world like the ordinary 
young person we occasionally read of in the police 
court news, who “left her home on the afternoon 
of such and such a date, and has not returned 
since. When last seen was wearing,” etc., seemed 
ludicrous beyond the power of words to express. 

For weeks one of the chief topics of the Euro- 
pean press had been the contemplated voyage of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


his Arminian Majesty to the East, the prepara- 
tions for which had been carried out on that scale 
of magnificence which the public had come to 
regard as inseparable from the undertakings of 
this travel-loving young monarch. The date fixed 
for the Imperial departure had been unexpectedly 
postponed on the very eve of the day itself; but 
the reasons given for this postponement were so 
plausible that no one thought of connecting it 
with the extraordinary news contained in the 
newspaper paragraph referred to. 

All incredulity vanished, however, when four 
and twenty hours later every journal of impor- 
tance in the United Kingdom not only confirmed 
the report, with various additional particulars 
supplied by special correspondents on the spot, 
but devoted columns upon columns to the discus- 
sion of the possible political consequences of the 
event. 

“There are many extraordinary features about 
the occurrence which has thrown so deep a gloom 
over Europe,” wrote the correspondent of the 
Times in Berolingen a few days after the Em- 
peror’s disappearance. “From information which 
I have been able to gather from a reliable source, 
it would seem that the first to discover the unac- 
countable absence of his Majesty was his personal 
valet, Herr Schulzendorf. The Emperor’s sleep- 
ing apartment adjoins his private cabinet on the 


4 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


first floor of the royal castle. On entering the 
room as usual on the morning of the discovery, 
and finding it unoccupied, Herr Schulzendorfs 
first impression appears to have been that his 
Majesty had absented himself on one of those 
secret expeditions which he has of late been in the 
habit of undertaking in company with his private 
secretary, Doctor Hofer. It was his Majesty^s cus- 
tom on these occasions to avail himself of a small 
staircase leading direct from his bedroom to a 
private exit in the left wing of the castle. Herr 
Schulzendorfs suspicion received apparent con- 
firmation from the circumstance that Doctor Ho- 
fer’s bedroom, which is situated on the same floor 
as that of the Emperor, was likewise empty; 
though the fact that the doctor’s bed showed signs 
of having been occupied during the night should 
have aroused his doubts. When, however, an hour 
or so later. Doctor Hofer reappeared in the castle, 
accompanied by an officer of the Imperial Guard, 
and it was rumored that he had been placed under 
quasi-arrest at the instance of the military authori- 
ties, Herr Schulzendorfs fears were awakened, 
and he at once communicated the discovery of 
the Emperor’s absence to the Master of the House- 
hold. The alarm soon spread throughout the 
palace, and by noon the news had been commu- 
nicated by telegraph to the sovereigns of the vari- 
ous states composing the Empire. A council 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


5 


of the Ministry was hastily summoned to consider 
the situation, but as to the outcome of its delib- 
erations nothing has been allowed to transpire. 
The most astonishing part of the affair is that no 
one appears to possess the slightest clue to the 
mystery. Doctor Hofer, the Imperial Secretary, I 
am informed, has been subjected to a rigorous 
examination, but without any result. The doctor 
declares himself totally unable to throw any light 
upon the matter. The reason for his arrest is 
wrapped in complete obscurity. He is, however, 
a Noverian by birth, his father having been 
chaplain-in-ordinary to the late King of Noveria, 
and he is believed, in spite of the position he has 
occupied at the Imperial court for the last twelve 
months, to be a strong upholder of the claim of 
the Duke of Cumbermere to the kingdom an- 
nexed by Brandenburg after her successful war 
with Austria in 1866. It is even whispered that 
evidence has come into the hands of the Arminian 
Government implicating the Imperial Secretary in 
the recent rebellious manifestations of the Guelph 
party in the Noverian Province, which appear 
now to have been of a far more serious character 
than the world has been led to suppose. What- 
ever truth there may be in this rumor, it is certain 
that the doctors arrest cannot have been a direct 
consequence of the EmperoPs disappearance, 
since it occurred some hours before his Majesty’s 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


absence was brought to the knowledge of the 
military authorities. The consternation of the 
latter is overwhelming, and, in spite of the official 
silence maintained by the Government, it is of 
course impossible to conceal the fact of the Em- 
peror’s absence from the public at large. It is 
now nearly a week since his Majesty was last seen 
by his subjects, and the most sensational reports 
are already flying about the city with regard to 
his fate. 

“It is rumored to-day that Prince Henry of 
Brandenburg, the Emperor’s brother and heir 
presumptive, has been urged by the Imperial 
Chancellor and a few of the Southern Arminian 
sovereigns to assume the regency of the Empire 
pending his Majesty’s return. But his Imperial 
Highness is said to have categorically refused to 
accede to the request, as he declares that during 
the lifetime of the sovereign, or in the absence of 
proof of his demise, no one but the Emperor him- 
self can confer governing powers either upon him 
or anyone else. It is thought that, should Prince 
Henry persist in maintaining this attitude, serious 
constitutional difficulties may arise in the event of 
the Emperor’s prolonged absence from the helm 
of affairs.” 

It was in vain that the fact of the Emperor’s 
disappearance was now vehemently denied by the 
semi-official organs of the Arminian Government. 


THB VANISHED EMPEROR. 


1 


When concealment, at least to the outer world, 
was no longer possible, other means of allaying 
the growing sense of uneasiness in the political 
world were resorted to, and it was stated that his 
Majesty, with the knowledge of his Ministers, 
had gone on a political mission of great delicacy, 
which, while it necessitated his own personal su- 
pervision, required at the same time that he should 
preserve the very strictest incognito. 

It was hinted that the much vexed question of 
the Emperor’s marriage was at the bottom of the 
mission, and, as there was no matter the solution 
of which had been more eagerly and anxiously 
watched for ever since the young monarch as- 
cended the throne three years before, the report, 
on the face of it, seemed not altogether devoid of 
probability. But, coming immediately after the 
most explicit official assurances that his Majesty 
was safe and sound in his capital, the thinness of 
this attempt to hoodwink the public was too ap- 
parent, and, beyond perhaps a few loyal souls in 
Arminia itself, no one was deceived by it. As day 
after day passed and the alarming rumors regard- 
ing the fate of the Emperor grew more and more 
persistent, the excitement in Europe became posi- 
tively dangerous, and the governments showed, 
by the extraordinary measures they adopted to 
calm the public feeling, that they had arrived at 


8 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


that stage of perplexity which in common parlance 
is defined as being at one^s wits’ end. 

Perhaps the following few gleanings from the 
telegraphic intelligence of the newspaper press of 
those days may serve better than anything else to 
recall to the reader’s mind the grave state of con- 
fusion into which Europe had suddenly been 
thrown. 

The fifteenth edition of the Daily Telegraph of 

June 12, , ten days after the first rumor of the 

Arminian mystery burst upon the world, con- 
tained the following telegraphic dispatches: 

“Berolingen, June 12, Noon. 

“The serious disturbances which have been taking 
place in all parts of Noveria during the last few weeks 
have now culminated in a general rising, which threat- 
ens to assume the dimensions of a revolution. The 
disappearance of the Arminian Emperor is believed to 
be connected with these troubles, and serious fears are 
entertained that his Majesty, who, with his usual de- 
termination, is believed to have gone incognito to 
Noveria to inquire personally into the position of af- 
fairs in that province, has fallen into the hands of the 
rebel party. These fears are strengthened by the ex- 
traordinary attitude of the Arminian Government, 
whose laxness in dealing with the turbulent province 
is now attributed to the unfortunate position of the 
young monarch. Should the rumors regarding his 
Majesty’s capture prove true, there is little doubt 
that the outcome will be a recognition on the part of 
Arminia of the claim of the Duke of Cumbermere to 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


9 


the throne of his late father, the deposed King of 
Noveria.” 

“Berolingen — Later. 

“There can now no longer be any doubt that the re- 
port alluded to in one of my previous dispatches, ac- 
cording to which the private secretary of the Emperor, 
Dr. Georg Hofer, had been placed under arrest a few 
hours after his Majesty’s disappearance, is substan- 
tially correct. The mystery attaching to this incident 
is enhanced by the fact, which now appears to be es- 
tablished beyond a doubt, that the order for this of- 
ficial’s imprisonment was actually written and signed 
by the Emperor’s own hand, and that the document 
was probably the last executed by the monarch before 
he vanished. The most startling conjectures are cur- 
rent regarding the connection existing between the 
two events. Doctor Hofer, who has enjoyed the Em- 
peror’s confidence in a remarkable degree, is said to 
have been persona gratissima at court, and his arrest 
at this juncture of affairs has revived certain strange 
stories which were afioat in society circles here a few 
months ago concerning a romantic attachment sup- 
posed to have been formed by his Majesty’s youngest 
and favorite sister for a prominent official of the Em- 
peror’s household. 

“These rumors were believed by many to be the 
mere outcome of idle court gossip. But recent events 
have lent them a color of plausibility, and it is now 
generally asserted that the temporary retirement of 
the young Princess Margaret from the court of Bero- 
lingen at the beginning of the year, which was at- 
tributed at the time to the state of her Imperial 
Highness’ health, was in reality due to the peremptory 
action of his Majesty himself, whose displeasure the 
young Princess had incurred by her persistent refusal 


10 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


to contract a marriage suitable to her illustrious birth. 
It is difficult, however, to reconcile this story with 
the circumstance that her Imperial Highness returned 
to court two months ago, and has since quite regained 
her old position in the favor of her brother. Nor does 
the arrest of Doctor Hofer, whose name is now whis- 
pered in conjunction with that of the Princess, throw 
any light whatsoever upon the Emperor’s disappear- 
ance. If true, it serves to complicate the mystery, that 
is all.” 

The fourteenth edition of the Evening Standard 
of the following day was issued with the subjoined 
principal headings: 

RUMORED KIDNAPING OP THE ARMINIAN EM- 
PEROR-THREATENED OUTBREAK OF 
WAR WITH FRANCONIA. 

“Patropolis, June 13. 

“The reported capture of the Arminian Emperor 
by the supporters of the old Noverian dynasty is gen- 
erally credited here, and has caused the greatest ex- 
citement throughout Franconia. It will be remem- 
bered that, upon the demise of the late Duke of Bruns- 
biittel, the succession to the throne of that state de- 
volved upon his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumber- 
mere, the Noverian pretender. The refusal of the Ar- 
minian Emperor to recognize the latter’s claim to the 
duchy, except on condition that he formally relin- 
quished all pretensions to the crown of Noveria, pro- 
duced a feeling of deep resentment among the still nu- 
merous adherents of the Duke in the kingdom annexed 
by Brandenburg after the Austro-Arminian war of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


11 


1866, and the present daring coup is said to be the re- 
sult. Whether true or not, it is certain that telegrams 
from Berolingen report the rumored discovery of a 
conspiracy there, in which the most trusted confidant 
of the young Emperor is said to he implicated.” 


“Patropolis, Midnight. 

“The excitement in Franconia continues alarming- 
ly on the increase. Four Arminian subjects, one of 
them a distinguished member of the diplomatic serv- 
ice, were surrounded and set upon by a crowd of Pa- 
tropolitans in one of the principal thoroughfares of the 
city toward six o’clock this afternoon. The interfer- 
ence of the police was tardy and half-hearted, and the 
unfortunate Arminians were not extricated from their 
perilous position until they had suffered considerable 
ill-usage at the hands of their assailants. A mob of 
several hundred people, among whom were a num- 
ber of well-dressed citizens, afterward proceeded to 
the Arminian Embassy, in front of which they made a 
hostile demonstration. 

“This is unfortunately not the first outburst of popu- 
lar feeling since the Arminian complication, and it is 
but a feeble indication of the general tendency of the 
hour. The press is undoubtedly to blame for stimulat- 
ing the public excitement. The trumpet call sounded 
a week ago by the extremist organs has in the last 
three or four days been taken up by the more moder- 
ate portion of the press, and an article entitled ‘The 
Revenge in Sight,’ which appeared this morning in the 
semi-ofiicial Patropolis Gazette, and which is general- 
ly believed to have been directly inspired by the Gov- 
ernment, is probably primarily responsible for the la- 
mentable occurrences of this afternoon. The develop- 


12 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


ment of affairs in Arminia is being watched here on 
all hands with indescribable eagerness, and the sud- 
den activity which is being displayed in naval and 
military departments can be taken as an indication of 
what may be expected. In spite of all endeavors to 
maintain secrecy in the matter, it is known that within 
the last week large bodies of troops have been massed 
on this side of the Arminian frontier, and representa- 
tions are said to have been made on the subject by the 
Arminian Government. 

“Two further important items of news are being 
eagerly discussed to-night in the clubs and places of 
public resort, and, if true, will tend to render the sit- 
uation more critical than ever. It is reported on the 
one hand that differences of a serious nature have 
arisen between the foremost members of the Armin- 
ian Empire, and on the other hand that grave dis- 
turbances have broken out on the Russo-Arminian 
frontier. The fact that these disturbances are said 
to have been deliberately provoked by Russia adds to 
the gravity of the rumor.” 


“New York, June 13. 

“The extraordinary disappearance of the Emperor 
Willibald still continues to absorb public attention 
here. The New York Herald states that the Duke of 
Cumbermere, the Noverian pretender, sailed for Eu- 
rope ten days ago.” 


“St. Petersburg, June 13. 

“The sudden arrival of his Majesty the Czar in the 
capital yesterday afternoon from Gatschina is cur- 
rently reported to have been caused by a fresh de- 
velopment of the Arminian mystery. A council of Min- 
isters was held at the Winter Palace late last night 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


13 


under the presidency of the Czar, and it is stated to- 
day that a high ofiBcial from the immediate entourage 
of his Majesty started at an early hour this morning 
on a secret mission to Patropolis. A Pranco-Russian 
alliance directed against Arminia is believed to be the 
immediate object of this mission.” 

“Berolingen, June 13. 

“Considerable differences of opinion are reported to 
exist between the heads of the various states which 
constitute the Arminian Empire as to the course to 
be pursued in view of the uncertain fate of the Em- 
peror Willibald. The Prince Regent of Wittelsbach, 
it is whispered, has already taken steps to summon an 
immediate meeting of the confederate sovereigns in 
order to consult as to the near future. The belief is 
that, failing the consent of Prince Henry of Branden- 
burg, the missing Emperor’s brother and heir pre- 
sumptive, to assume the temporary leadership of the 
Empire, the Wittelsbach monarch will move that a 
vice-Emperor be elected from among the sovereign 
rulers of Arminia. No mention of this rumor has 
been allowed to appear in the native press, which, as 
you know, has been enjoined, under threat of severe 
pains and penalties, from referring to the subject of 
the Emperor’s disappearance under whatsoever guise 
or pretense. But it is nevertheless already the com- 
mon topic of conversation in the capital, where it has 
caused the greatest possible consternation. In fact, 
the feeling among the populace here is one of grow- 
ing suspicion, and the situation is regarded by many 
as extremely ominous.” 


14 


.THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“Berolingen, June 14. 

“I have ascertained on unquestionable authority that 
negotiations have been in progress between the courts 
of Wittelsbach and Wettinia respecting the proceed- 
ings at the contemplated meeting of the Arminian sov- 
ereigns. The Regent of Wittelsbach makes his ap- 
pearance at the meeting conditional upon his election 
to the imperial dignity. The King of Wettinia claims 
that dignity for himself. The prospect of any com- 
promise being arrived at is almost hopeless.” 

I could supplement the above extracts by 
scores of others of an equally startling and alarm- 
ing character. But I purposely refrain from re- 
peating the mere sensational paragraphs under 
which the smaller fry of newspapers regaled their 
readers under such heads as “REPORTED 
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR WILLIBALD 
—FINDING OF THE BODY,” “BEROLIN- 
GEN IN FLAMES— RUMORED MASSACRE 
OF THE ARMINIAN MINISTERS— RE- 
TURN OF PRINCE OTTOMARCK TO THE 
HEAD OF AFFAIRS,” and others of a 
similarly extravagant character. They increased, 
so far as it was possible to increase, the excite- 
ment of the public; but inasmuch as they throw 
no light upon the real course of events, I may 
pass them over in silence. 

Indeed, it would scarcely be possible to exag- 
gerate the gravity of the situation. The total 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


15 


absence of any clue whatsoever to the Emperor’s 
whereabouts seemed to render the prospect of a 
peaceable solution almost hopeless. Had he 
really been kidnaped or spirited away, as some 
asserted, with the connivance of certain exalted 
personages whose aim was to effect a transfer of 
the imperial supremacy in Arminia to another 
state? Had he been made the victim of foul 
play? Or was his disappearance voluntary, and 
his absence really connected with some deep po- 
litical design, the execution of which the youthful 
monarch, whose spirit of independence and ar- 
bitrary nature had become proverbial since his 
accession to the throne, would intrust to no one 
else? 

The Emperor’s well-known disregard of the 
irksome restrictions which tradition has imposed 
upon royalty, and the energy with which he was 
known to occupy himself personally with appar- 
ently paltry matters of administration that are usu- 
ally left to the management of subordinate Gov- 
ernment officials, had caused him to be looked 
upon as self-willed and eccentric. Self-willed he, 
undoubtedly was. Eccentric he was only in so far 
as he declined to be bound by what he considered 
obsolete customs and useless forms, and claimed 
the right to exercise his own unfettered judgment 
like every ordinary human being, and see with his 
own eyes and hear with his own ears that which 


16 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


rulers had hitherto been accustomed to see and 
hear with the eyes and ears of their servitors. 
The world shrugged its shoulders and giggled at 
the spectacle of a monarch who considered him- 
self, not only in posse but in esse, the acting head 
and administrator of every department of his 
Government, and who, on the principle that every 
single appointment in the state, from the Prime 
Minister or Chancellor down to the poorest village 
pastor, is held by virtue of the power of repre- 
sentation vested in the holder of the office by the 
monarch to whom theoretically it belongs, felt 
himself called upon, whenever the necessity arose 
or the humor seized him, to temporarily take the 
place of the substitute and administrate the office 
in person. 

The world merely saw the novelty of the pro- 
ceeding and called it baroque and eccentric. A 
monarch occupying himself with the minute de- 
tails of administration was something quite out 
of the common; hence the world’s inclination 
was to laugh. The Emperor Willibald had been 
known to preach occasionally in the place of his 
chaplain, to pose as a teacher in the schoolroom, 
and to deliver judgment on the bench. These 
and other eccentricities had been made the sub- 
ject of endless satires in the newspaper press of 
Europe; perhaps not unjustly. But those who 
knew the young monarch were aware that they 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


17 


were the mere extravagances of a mind which na- 
ture had endowed with quite exceptional gifts 
and with a firmness of purpose which, to use a 
colloquial phrase, stuck at nothing. 

Personalities like that of the Emperor Willi- 
bald, which attract the public attention in an in- 
ordinate degree, are always liable to be misinter- 
preted or represented from a one-sided view, and 
there is no doubt that the young Emperor suf- 
fered in this respect what all in his position of life 
are more or less made to suffer. Certain traits of 
harshness and want of consideration toward those 
who had just claims upon his respect and grati- 
tude had in the first year of his reign prejudiced 
public opinion, especially in England, against him. 
He had entered upon a splendid inheritance with 
nothing to recommend him except the fact that he 
was the grandson of a man to whom all Europe 
had looked up with feelings of veneration. Young 
and untried as he was, he took the position of his 
great ancestor with an air that seemed to argue 
a conviction on his part that, with the Empire 
that had descended to him, he had also inherited 
the personal greatness of the man to whom its 
foundation was owing. There was an absence of 
modesty and diffidence in his attitude which at 
first shocked the world. What had been natural 
and becoming in the grandsire seemed arrogant 
and unbecoming in the grandson. The one had 


18 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

claimed pre-eminence by virtue of mighty deeds 
and a life full of grand and exceptional achieve- 
ments. The other asserted the same claim, but 
he did so as one who has yet to show himself pos- 
sessed of those qualities which alone render the 
claim justifiable. The young Emperor was con- 
scious that he possessed those qualities. The 
world had to learn that he was not mistaken. 
When it did so its opinion changed, slowly but 
steadily, and in time the disapprobation with 
which it had at first regarded the self-reliance and 
assurance of the youthful ruler made way for a 
feeling of surprised interest, which deepened 
quickly into a respect as sincere, if not as pro- 
found, as that which had been felt for his illustrious 
grandfather. 

Thus, in small things as well as in great, success 
is and always will be the criterion of merit. 
Whether it be a just criterion or not, the fact re- 
mains, and is incontrovertible, that he who suc- 
ceeds deserves success, and he who fails appar- 
ently does not. 

If I have dwelt at this length upon facts which 
may be assumed to be known to everyone who is 
not totally ignorant of contemporary history, the 
reader must not imagine that I therefore presume 
to class him among the historically ignorant. The 
recapitulation of these details was necessary to 
the full comprehension of events which are no less 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


19 


historical, though now for the first time to be 
chronicled ; events which it has been my privilege 
to learn of from one who may claim to possess a 
more intimate knowledge of the subject than any 
other man living, not excepting even his Majesty 
the Emperor Willibald of Arminia himself. 


CHAPTER 11. 

PARTLY DIPLOMATIC. 

I am alluding, of course, to Sir John Templeton. 

That the famous old diplomatist should have 
been one of the first persons whose opinion on 
the extraordinary mystery that was agitating the 
world was consulted by those most concerned in 
it, will scarcely surprise anyone who is familiar 
with the history of the more prominent European 
courts during the last few decades. There are 
those, however, who to this day assert that Sir 
John Templeton at the outset grievously mis- 
judged the case and miscalculated its political ef- 
fects. Perhaps he did. But, then, what mortal 
possesses the gift of looking into the future? 
There is little doubt that, in its earlier stages. Sir 
John was inclined to treat the Arminian mystery 
with a certain amount of indifference. He ridi- 


20 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


culed the notion, which gradually became uni- 
versal, that the Emperor’s disappearance was the 
result of an intrigue of a phenomenal kind, the 
like of which history had never seen. But, 
whatever his views on the cause of that singular 
event were, its consequences could not fail to im- 
press him in the same way as they did everyone 
else. 

Indeed, within a very short time people had 
ceased to marvel at the strangeness of the thing, 
or to seek for its explanation. The question now 
brought home to every mind was no longer the 
fate of an Emperor, but of an Empire; for Ar- 
minia was leaderless, and, worse still, was torn by 
inner dissensions for which there seemed no hope 
of a solution and which, coupled with the threat- 
ening attitude of the excitable Franconians, ren- 
dered the situation daily more and more critical. 
Since her successful great war with her hereditary 
foe in the West, Arminia stood, after Great Bri- 
tain, at the head of the European great powers, 
and upon the maintenance of this powerful posi- 
tion depended in a large measure the peace of the 
world. Practically a confederation of a number 
of states under one supreme head, the Arminian 
Empire formed so tremendous a factor in the 
equipoise of Europe that the merest suspicion 
touching her inner stability was sufficient to make 
every statesman on our side of the globe tremble. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


21 


And it was this inner stability which was now 
threatened. 

Unfortunately, it was not until matters political 
had reached their climax of confusion that official 
steps were reluctantly taken by the Government 
of Arminia to enlist the services of Sir John Tem- 
pleton in unraveling the mystery that underlay it 
all. The reason for this reluctance is not far to 
seek. Sir John had on more than one occasion 
passed some rather severe strictures upon the 
Arminian authorities, whose action in silencing 
the press on the subject that was exciting all Eu- 
rope he pronounced a grievous blunder. His 
words had not unnaturally given considerable 
umbrage in Berolingen; nor, if report may be 
believed, were his Arminian Majesty’s advisers 
over well pleased at the fact that one of the first 
to consult the old diplomatist and invite him to 
Berolingen was the Dowager Empress of Ar- 
minia, the august relative of our own gracious 
sovereign, through whom her Majesty had con- 
veyed her desire that Sir John Templeton should 
place his services at the disposal of the Arminian 
Government. 

Nevertheless, it is not a little significant of the 
weight that was attached to Sir John’s opinions 
that Count Jadgberg, the Arminian Ambassador 
at the Court of Vienna, should have deemed it 
expedient to seek an interview with him in order 


22 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


to vindicate the course taken by his Government 

The account of this interview, which I have 
obtained from Count Jadgberg himself, is of suf- 
ficient interest, in view of subsequent develop- 
ments, to be briefly recorded here. 

‘T explained at some length to Sir John Tem- 
pleton,” his Excellency says, in the memoir he 
has been good enough to draw up for me, “that 
in acting as they did the Imperial Government 
were prompted by certain reasons, the cogency 
of which it was impossible to assail. The Em- 
peror had undoubtedly on several recent occa- 
sions expressed his intention of proceeding in 
person to Noveria and investigating matters in 
the turbulent province with his own eyes. As- 
suming, therefore, not unreasonably, as the au- 
thorities did, that his Majesty, in defiance of all 
prudence and in spite of the urgent representa- 
tions of his advisers, had ventured incognito and 
unattended into the very camp of the rebel party, 
it of course became their first care to prevent any 
knowledge of this dangerous proceeding from 
reaching the public. Indeed, the mere fact of the 
Emperor^s disappearance, had it come to the ears 
of the Noverian leaders, would in itself have suf- 
ficed to put them on their guard and open their 
eyes to the tremendous possibilities it involved. 

“All these arguments, however, failed to con- 
vince Sir John. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


23 


“ ‘I have followed the career of your illustrious 
sovereign with the profoundest interest ever since 
his accession to the throne of Arminia/ he said, 
‘and the estimate I have formed of his character 
is so utterly irreconcilable with the foolhardy act 
which is now attributed to him that nothing short 
of ocular proof will convince me of it. The Em- 
peror may be headstrong and venturesome, even 
to the verge of eccentricity. But coupled with his 
resoluteness and self-reliance he possesses two 
other sterling qualities, whose influence so far 
has been discernible in all his actions. Those 
qualities are a deep earnestness of purpose and 
a grasp of mind such as is rarely met with in so 
young a man, and more rarely still in one of his 
Majesty^s impulsive temperament. Moreover, if 
the report of those may be trusted who are both 
competent and impartial judges, he has already 
given proof of considerable military genius. Com- 
pare these facts, then, with the extraordinary story 
we are now called upon to believe : that of a mon- 
arch staking, not only his liberty and his life, but 
the fortune, aye, the very existence, of a mighty 
Empire, upon an adventure as foolish and useless 
in its conception as perilous in its execution. 
Either the facts I have mentioned are true, or the 
story is true ; but not both.^ 

“ ‘Have you formed any definite theory of your 
own?^ I asked. 


24 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“Sir John shook his head. 

“ There is nothing I avoid more carefully than 
the danger of forming definite theories/ he said. 
‘But in this instance the conclusion to be formed 
from the facts is so obvious that it would be idle 
for me to pretend to shut my eyes to it’ 

“ ‘To what facts do you allude?’ I inquired. 

“ ‘To the facts relating to the Emperor’s pri- 
vate secretary, Doctor Hofer,’ Sir John replied. 
‘This man, it is admitted, was the last person who 
conversed with his Majesty before he retired to 
rest on the night of his disappearance. He pos- 
sessed the Emperor’s confidence in a remarkable 
degree; I believe was, in fact, more of a friend 
than a servant to his Imperial master.’ 

“ ‘Doctor Hofer,’ I said, ‘if I may say so, did at 
one time exercise a certain influence over his 
Majesty. But it is certain that this influence had 
not been maintained during the last two or three 
months.’ 

“‘Which means that of late it had been ob- 
served that a certain coldness had sprung up be- 
tween the Emperor and his friend.’ 

“ ‘It is believed,’ I rejoined, ‘that Doctor Hofer 
had for some reason incurred his Majesty’s dis- 
pleasure.’ 

“ ‘But in spite of this fact he was never removed 
from his post?’ 

“ ‘No.’ 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


25 


“ ‘Nor did he cease to enjoy its exceptional priv- 
ileges, such as the right of entering his Majesty’s 
presence unannounced and at all hours?’ 

“ ‘I believe not’ 

“ ‘Yet the very last act of the Emperor,’ Sir 
John remarked, ‘was to issue an order which vir- 
tually deprived Doctor Hofer of his liberty.’ 

“‘His Majesty’s commands were that Doctor 
Hofer should be strictly watched, and not per- 
mitted to leave the capital under whatsoever pre- 
tense.’ 

“ ‘And to whom was this order addressed?’ 

“ ‘To the general in command of the garrison 
of Berolingen.’ 

“ ‘And it was to Doctor Hofer himself to whom 
his Majesty intrusted its safe delivery?’ 

“I gave a silent affirmative. 

“ ‘So that,’ Sir John continued, ‘on the eve of 
the Emperor’s disappearance Doctor Hofer act- 
ually received a sealed document from his Ma- 
jesty’s hands containing an order for his own 
arrest, and, being ignorant of its purport, deliv- 
ered it to the general commanding the garrison 
to whom it was addressed?’ 

“Again I bowed a silent affirmative. 

“ ‘There was, I understand, no reason given for 
the adoption of this extraordinary measure?’ Sir 
John asked. 

“ ‘None,’ I replied. 


26 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“ ‘It may be inferred, then, that it is in some 
way connected with the cause of his Majesty ^s 
absence/ 

“ ‘The inference is perhaps natural.’ 

“ ‘The inference, I think, is the only possible 
one,’ Sir John said. 

“ ‘Pardon my curiosity,’ I now observed. ‘But 
if you utterly scout the notion that the Emperor’s 
disappearance is connected with the dynastic 
movements in Noveria, which are after all im- 
portant enough to engage his Majesty’s serious 
attention, to what still more important motive is 
it possible to assign a step which has jeopardized 
not only the stability of our Empire, but the peace 
of Europe itself?’ 

“ ‘Your question,’ Sir John answered, ‘is based 
on three grave misapprehensions. Firstly, I have 
not said that his Majesty’s absence is unconnected 
with the troubles in Noveria; on the contrary, I 
incline to the belief that such a connection is 
highly probable, only I think not in the manner 
supposed by your Government. Secondly, you 
will remember that I have emphatically expressed 
it as my opinion that the European complications 
which have followed the Emperor’s action are not 
due to that action itself, but to the arbitrary con- 
struction placed upon it by his Majesty’s own ad- 
visers. Thirdly, you start from the assumption 
that the motive of his Majesty’s step must neces- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


27 


sarily be one of vast political importance. It may, 
or it may not be so. To argue that it needs must 
be so, is to fatally prejudge the case. Having 
said this, I can only answer your question itself 
by saying that I am for the present as ignorant 
of the real solution of the mystery as your Ex- 
cellency is.’ 

“ Then how, in the name of common sense,’ I 
exclaimed, ‘would you propose to set to work to 
discover it?’ 

“ ‘By making myself acquainted with the only 
man who is apparently able to tell me what I want 
to know,’ Sir John answered. 

“ ‘You allude to this Doctor Hofer,’ I said. 
‘But do you imagine that he would be complais- 
ant enough to gratify your curiosity? You do 
not know the man. Sir John. Doctor Hofer is in 
many respects an exceptional character, and cer- 
tainly not one who would be likely to tell you 
any more than suits him.’ 

“ ‘What you say is deeply interesting,’ Sir John 
replied. ‘It is not, however, what a man tells me, 
but what he does not tell me, that is the most in- 
structive information he conveys, and in this re- 
spect, it seems, I might rely upon finding this 
Doctor Hofer unusually communicative.’” 

From the tenor of this conversation it is hardly 
to be doubted that Count Jadgberg, either on his 
own account, or upon instructions from Berolin- 


28 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

gen, had used this opportunity of sounding Sir 
John Templeton’s views as to the best method of 
solving the difficulty in which the Government of 
Arminia were placed. It required, however, the 
pressure of personal influence as well as that of 
circumstances to induce the Arminian Govern- 
ment actually to invite the co-operation of the 
astute old diplomat in grappling with that dif- 
ficulty. That such personal influence was brought 
to bear upon the Arminian ministers from many 
illustrious quarters has already been intimated. 
What may have proved, however, of greater 
weight with them than the advice of foreign po- 
tentates, was the personal intervention of the 
great ex-chancellor of the empire. Prince Otto- 
marck, whose dismissal from office, twelve months 
previously, by the spirited young Emperor, 
though a foregone conclusion to those who were 
acquainted with the characters both of the master 
and the servant, had caused so immense a sensa- 
tion in Europe. 

Through King Albert of Wettinia, the truest 
champion of Arminian unity, and the staunch ad- 
mirer of the gi'eat statesman who was its political 
founder, the Prince had used his utmost endeav- 
ors to prevail upon his successor in office to se- 
cure the services of Sir John Templeton. 

“There are circumstances,” he wrote to King 
Albert, “which all the resources of ordinary state- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


29 


craft are inadequate to cope with, and it is time 
that the Imperial Government should recognize 
the fact that such a moment has arrived in the af- 
fairs of our common fatherland. It is my firm con- 
viction that, until the fate of his Majesty the Em- 
peror has been ascertained, nothing on earth can 
avert the disastrous consequences of the present 
deplorable deadlock; and I know of no man bet- 
ter fitted to undertake this difficult task, and pos- 
sibly rectify the serious blunders which have al- 
ready been committed, than Sir John Templeton, 
who, I am aware, needs no words of mine to rec- 
ommend him to your Majesty.’^ 

What influence the opinion of Prince Otto- 
marck may have had upon Count Capricius, the 
Arminian Imperial Chancellor, I am, of course, 
not in a position to say. What I do know, is that 
this letter, which was promptly forwarded to the 
Government in Berolingen by the Wettinian mon- 
arch, bore the date of June 12, and that on June 
15 Sir John Templeton left Vienna for Berolingen. 

There is nothing I regret more deeply than 
that just during these exciting days I happened 
to be absent from my post in Vienna, and thus 
missed the opportunity of following events, as I 
was so fond of doing, through the medium, as it 
were, of old Sir John’s mind. That it would have 
been of more than usual interest to me to learn 
his views on the situation just then the reader 


30 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

will readily gather from the fact that I was at 
that very* moment myself on the way to the Ar- 
minian capital for purposes of which, personal 
though they be, I am compelled to make brief 
mention here. 

The fact is that the great English daily journal 
for which I had for many years acted as an occa- 
sional correspondent had offered me the post of 
its permanent correspondent in Berolingen, and 
it was with the object of discussing this for me 
momentous offer that I had obtained three 
months’ leave of absence from my diplomatic 
post in Vienna and repaired to London. The re- 
sult of my visit was that I agreed to act as tem- 
porary representative of the journal in Berolin- 
gen during the term of my official furlough, leav- 
ing the question of my permanent engagement to 
be settled at a later date. 

Before I left London I had an opportunity of 
discussing the situation in general and my imme- 
diate destination in particular with our late cor- 
respondent in Berolingen, whose retirement at 
this particular juncture had been brought about 
by his contravention of the new Arminian press 
laws, which made the dispatch of news to foreign 
countries subject to the sanction of the censor. 

The information I gathered from him, though 
full of interest from my point of view as a jour- 
nalist, was surprisingly meager in those details 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


31 


respecting the actual question at issue, which 
alone can claim the attention of the reader of 
this history. Indeed, beyond the facts already 
plainly indicated in the telegraphic dispatches 
which I have cited, all I learned in this latter 
regard was that the rumor of the Emperor Willi- 
bald^s capture by the so-called Guelph party m 
Noveria, though by no means supported by any- 
thing resembling positive proof, had a strong 
basis of probability. That his Majesty’s love of 
adventure, and perhaps his tendency to trust no 
eye and no judgment but his own, had led him 
in this instance to play the part of his own detec- 
tive and thus place himself in a position of great 
peril, appeared in my humble opinion to be cer- 
tain. It was the only plausible explanation of his 
strange disappearance, and, according as it did 
with that which was known of his independence 
of character and indomitable spirit, there is little 
wonder that a certain amount of credence should 
have been attached to it. 

What, however, appeared to me too extrava- 
gant to believe was the alleged complicity of the 
Duke of Cumbermere in this daring attempt to 
restore by force of arms the kingdom his late 
father had forfeited twenty years previously, when 
he blindly cast in his lot with Austria in that 
country’s unfortunate war with Brandenburg. On 


32 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


this point, indeed, our late correspondent would 
express no decided opinion. 

“The question is a difficult one to answer,” he 
said. “The Duke is certainly reported upon pret- 
ty good authority to have sailed for Europe a 
fortnight ago, and his destination under present 
circumstances can scarcely be doubtful. If, 
therefore, the Emperor has placed himself in the 
power of the Noverian rebels, his Royal Highness 
practically holds the key of the entire position, 
and can dictate almost any terms he likes. On 
the other hand, however, there is every reason to 
believe that his Majesty has for some time been 
favorably inclined toward an amicable settlement 
of the Noverian question, and there are indica- 
tions which tend to show that he has been con- 
ducting personal negotiations to this end with the 
Duke of Cumbermere. That a certain influence 
has been at work for several years to bring about 
this desired result is beyond all question. It is 
within your knowledge, no doubt, that his Ma- 
jesty's private secretary and, until very recently 
at least, his trusted confidant is a Noverian and a 
staunch adherent of the late royal house.” 

“You allude, of course, to the famous Doctor 
Hofer.” 

“Precisely.” 

“But was not this very man arrested by order 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


33 


of the Emperor himself at the moment of his 
Maj esty ’s disappearance ?” 

“So it is reported. The terms of this arrest, 
however, are, to say the least, somewhat extraor- 
dinary, since they merely restrict the doctor’s 
liberty to move about at will, excepting within 
the precincts of the Imperial palace. But let us 
leave the fact of this arrest, which no one pretends 
to understand, out of account for the present. 
What we are discussing is the influence which 
this man has undoubtedly exercised over the mind 
and the views of his Imperial master. As an ex- 
ample of the tendency of this influence I need 
only adduce one incident, which, though it caused 
at the time considerable astonishment in Arminian 
political circles, naturally attracted little attention 
abroad. Three months ago the Emperor sudden- 
ly declared his intention of reinstating the son 
of a former prime minister of the late King of 
Noveria, Baron von Arnold, a young man of 
pronounced Noverian sympathies, and believed 
to be one of the most active agents in the em- 
ploy of the Duke of Cumbermere, in the pos- 
sessions which his father had forfeited to the 
crown of Brandenburg. In spite of the urgent 
remonstrances of the Government, who foresaw 
the imprudence of such a step, his Majesty per- 
sisted in carrying out this spontaneous act of 


34 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

grace, and Baron von Arnold returned to Arminia 
shortly afterward and quietly re-entered into pos- 
session of his family estates.” 

“And it is believed that this generous act on 
his Majesty’s part was due to the influence of 
Doctor Hofer?” 

“The conclusion is inevitable. What increases 
the strangeness of the incident, however, is the 
fact that, with the return of young Von Arnold 
from exile, the influence of Doctor Hofer at the 
Arminian court commenced to wane, and there is 
little doubt that, within a very short time, an 
estrangement ensued between the Emperor and 
his confidant, which, if we may credit the official 
version, culminated on the day of his Majesty’s 
disappearance in the complete disgrace and the 
arrest of the latter.” 

“But would not this tend to prove,” I remarked, 
“that the Emperor had discovered the existence 
of some plot in which this man Hofer was con- 
cerned?” 

“Very true. On the face of it that appears to 
be the most plausible explanation. Court gossip, 
however, throws a very different light upon the 
history of Doctor Hofer’s disgrace. There are 
two versions current, either of which, if correct, 
would reduce the whole affair to the level of a 
mere court intrigue. According to the first of 
these two versions it would seem that Doctor 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


35 


Hofer had prevailed upon the Emperor to grant 
an amnesty to Baron von Arnold for selfish rea- 
sons, inasmuch, namely, as the young Baron, it 
appears, was the affianced husband of Hofer’s sis- 
ter, a young girl said to be possessed of very 
great beauty. Those who know the Emperor are 
aware that he never forgives an act of deception, 
and the discovery that he had been thus practiced 
upon by one whom he had honored with his con- 
fidence and friendship w'ould indeed more than 
sufficiently account for what has happened. Un- 
fortunately for the probability of this story, how- 
ever, there is every reason to believe that, if Doc- 
tor Hofer had been inclined to use his position 
at court for the purpose of self-advancement, the 
extraordinary favor with which the Emperor has 
always treated him would have enabled him to 
gratify his ambition long ago, and in a manner 
very different from that which is now attributed 
to him. But his bitterest enemy cannot accuse 
him of pursuing selfish ends. Far from seeking 
advancement, he has, on the contrary, always 
studiously avoided it, contenting himself with a 
position which, if influential, has certainly not 
been productive of any undue benefit to himself.” 

“That disposes, then, of the first version,” I 
said. “And the second?” 

“Unfortunately it is scarcely more satisfactory 
than the first. You have heard, no doubt, like 


36 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the rest of the world, of the strained relations 
which existed some months ago between the Em- 
peror and his second youngest sister, the Princess 
Margaret. The cause was no secret. The Em- 
peror wished to bestow his sistePs hand upon the 
heir to one of the most powerful thrones in Eu- 
rope, and met with a refusal on the part of the 
Princess which was as determined as it was un- 
expected. His Majesty, as you are aware, is not 
accustomed to brook opposition, even from those 
for whom he has a tenderness, and the firm stand 
made by her Imperial Highness, who was his Ma- 
jesty's especial favorite, is said to have led to 
a complete rupture between the brother and sis- 
ter, culminating at last in the banishment of the 
latter from court. The Princess was reported at 
the time to have declared her intention never to 
marry at all. Whether true or not, rumor at 
once busied itself with the reason for such a 
determination in one whose attractions are uni- 
versally acknowledged to be of a very superior 
kind. It was whispered that an unfortunate at- 
tachment for a certain person of quite inferior 
rank, who held a confidential position at the Im- 
perial court, was the real cause of the Princess^ 
wish to remain single, and among those pointed 
out as the probable object of this attachment was 
his Majesty^s private secretary. Doctor Hofer. 
The gossip subsided after a while, as gossip usu- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


37 


ally does, but it has been revived within the last 
fortnight, and the quarrel between the Emperor 
and his favorite sister is now asserted by some 
to have a distinct bearing upon the subsequent 
disgrace of his Majesty’s secretary. Unfortu- 
nately again for the upholders of this version, there 
is the fact that, only a few weeks prior to the 
disappearance of the Emperor and the mysterious 
arrest of Doctor Hofer, the banishment of the 
Princess was revoked, and a reconciliation be- 
tween the illustrious parties to the quarrel took 
place, which circumstance, as you will readily ad- 
mit, is scarcely compatible with the theory ad- 
vanced by the court wiseacres in explanation of 
her Imperial Highness’ enforced retirement from 
the capital.” 

All this was of course deeply interesting to me, 
but at the same time extremely puzzling. 

‘‘It is strange,” I said, “that, in whatever direc- 
tion one looks in this mysterious business, the 
only result one obtains is a negative one. It is 
like wandering in a maze of blind alleys. There 
seems to be no single affirmative fact, if I may 
so call it, to start from in investigating the matter.” 

“Just so,” my companion rejoined. “It is that 
which emphasizes the seriousness of the situa- 
tion, and you may believe me, in spite of all out- 
ward appearances, affairs look nowhere more 
serious than in the Arminian capital itself. There 


38 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


is a savor of revolution in the very atmosphere 
one breathes there.” 

“But surely,” I said, “it is not by means of a 
revolution that the people of Berolingen can hope 
to rescue their Emperor from the hands of the 
Noverians.” 

My informant shrugged his shoulders. 

“A populace does not reason,” he said. “The 
people’s confidence in their Government has en- 
tirely vanished. The attempts of the authorities 
to conceal what every one knows to be the truth, 
coupled with this rumored meeting of the Ar- 
minian princes in the capital to deliberate on the 
situation, have caused the most extravagant sus- 
picions. What their outcome will be, I will not 
venture to foreshadow. But you will have an 
opportunity of seeing and judging for yourself.” 

And so indeed I had. 

As I lay in bed that night, previous to my de- 
parture for the Arminian capital, ruminating on 
the amazing change which had taken place in the 
aspect of political affairs throughout the entire 
civilized world within a short fortnight, in con- 
sequence of the disappearance of one solitary 
mortal from the scene of action, I could not help 
dwelling upon the extraordinary instability of our 
human affairs generally. 

Let the reader recapitulate for himself the stu- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


39 


pendous mass of events which had crowded into 
that comparatively brief span of time. 

It was on May 31 that the first rumor of the 
Arminian Emperor^s disappearance reached the 
public through the medium of a London morning 
paper. Within a few hours the report was con- 
firmed on indubitable evidence by every news- 
paper of note in Europe, and its truth maintained 
in spite of the most strenuous denials issued by 
the Arminian Government. A wave of the great- 
est conceivable excitement instantly passed over 
the world. The cabinets of every state in Europe 
were hastily summoned to deliberate on the situa- 
tion and its possible consequences. Alas, to how 
little purpose. Within ten days Franconia had 
practically mobilized her army, frontier troubles 
of the gravest kind had arisen between Arminia 
and her colossal neighbor in the East, apprehen- 
sion had seized the minds, and was guiding the 
actions, of every statesman in Europe; in short, 
complications of the most alarming nature had set 
in on all sides. Troops were being mustered, 
armies strengthened, and other military measures 
adopted, by every power who had any interests to 
protect — and what power has not? In Arminia 
itself differences and dissensions were reported 
to have broken out between the component sov- 
ereign members of the huge Empire, a rebellion 
had suddenly taken place in Noveria, and Berolin- 


40 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


gen, with its population of over a million souls, 
was on the eve of a terrible revolution. 

Viewed calmly and dispassionately, even at 
the distance of time which has since elapsed, this 
rapid metamorphosis seems to us now almost in- 
credible. Yet, when I say that the picture is not 
overdrawn nor exaggerated in one single particu- 
lar, I do so knowing that the testimony of every 
contemporary observer will bear out the truth 
of the assertion. 

Doubtless, history records more than one in- 
stance of international complications as intricate 
and menacing as those we are now dealing with, 
but assuredly none in which the source, the pri- 
mary cause, of the complications was of so 
strangely simplex a nature. The conflicting po- 
litical interests of the great powers of the earth, 
to reconcile and adjust which the combined in- 
telligence of the most eminent statesmen and 
diplomatists frequently spends itself in vain, have 
before now set the world ablaze, and brought un- 
told misery and disaster upon suffering humanity. 
But here was a case of a different, a totally un- 
precedented kind. Not the aims and ends of 
scheming statecraft, not the clash and the en- 
tanglement of irreconcilable interests of state and 
state, nor the colliding angry passions of rival 
races, were the primary elements of the gathering 
storm. Its origin was assignable to one single 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


41 


fact, one solitary event, upon the elucidation of 
which it depended whether war or peace, hope or 
despair, calm or tempest, was in store for man- 
kind. In a word, the fate of the whole civilized 
world hung upon the answer to the one problem, 
the terribly simple problem: What had become 
of the Arminian Emperor? 




J 

i 


■I.«I I PV 1 1 1 I II m. II 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


43 


SECOND BOOK. 

THE COMPLICATION. 


CHAPTER III. 

IMPERIAL BEROLINGBN. 

If it merely required a relation of my own 
personal experiences to place the reader in pos- 
session of the remarkable facts of the present 
story, my task would be light and easy indeed. 
The circumstance, however, that I happened at 
this juncture to be sent to Berolingen as special 
correspondent of one of the most distinguished 
English newspapers, and that I thus had the good 
fortune to live, so to speak, in the thick of subse- 
quent events, is a coincidence which, though it 
enables me to supply from my own stock of 
knowledge a good many details bearing upon 
the subject matter of these pages, does not place 
me in a position to deal as an historian with that 
subject matter itself. 

I wish the reader, before I proceed, clearly to 
grasp this fact. The collection of those more or 


44 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


less disjointed records which form the really his- 
torical part of my story has been a labor of some 
years, to which I have devoted no little energy and 
persistency, and for which I may justly claim 
some recognition. Without my experiences gath- 
ered both in London and in Berolingen, I should 
perhaps not have been able so to piece these rec- 
ords together, supplementing, where needful, 
those general details which they lack, as to pro- 
duce a perfectly complete and consecutive narra- 
tive. On the other hand, were it not for the main 
facts, for which I am indebted to other sources, 
the account of my own experiences pure and sim- 
ple would possess no more interest, and certainly 
no more value, than the reminiscences of any fairly 
able journalist whom chance has placed as an eye- 
witness in the midst of events of an unusually 
stirring character. It is the combination of these 
two distinct sources of information which quali- 
fies me to write this history, and it is this com- 
bination, then, with all its necessary drawbacks, 
which I must ask the reader to bear with pa- 
tiently. 

Having thus, as I venture to think, satisfactorily 
explained my position, I will now proceed to lay 
before the reader that part of my material the 
true source of which he must use his own skill and 
ingenuity to discover. 

Those who can claim even the slightest ac- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


45 


quaintance with Berolingen are aware that what 
is known there as the Royal Castle, a huge pile 
remarkable rather for its squareness than its beau- 
ty, marks, as it were, the boundary between the 
older portion of the city, which extends hence 
toward the north and the east, and comprises a 
considerable number of industrial suburbs, with 
their legion of factories and store-houses, in its 
wide area, and the more modern extension of the 
town, which covers a still larger area in the west 
and south. In the immediate vicinity of the Cas- 
tle stands the great dome, and at a somewhat 
greater distance, arrayed, seemingly without any 
regard for symmetrical order, upon a compara- 
tively small space, there are the museums and pic- 
ture galleries, the Hall of Glory, with its piled up 
mass of trophies, and the university buildings. 
Opposite the latter, to the left, stands the Grand 
Opera House, flanked by two royal palaces. One 
of these, once known as the palace of the Crown 
Prince, is now the Berolingen residence of her 
Majesty, the Empress mother, whilst the other, 
once the regular abode of his late Majesty, the 
Emperor Willibald the Victorious, and facetious- 
ly termed “the chest of drawers” by the Bero- 
lingen wits, on account of its resemblance in shape 
to that useful article of furniture, has since the 
decease of that glorious monarch been left un- 


46 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

touched by his successor for reasons of historic 
piety. 

From here the world-famed Grand Avenue of 
Limes stretches for considerably over half a mile 
toward the historical Arch of Victory, forming as 
fine a boulevard as any capital in Europe, not ex- 
cepting Patropolis itself, can boast of. Beyond 
lies the aristocratic, or at least wealthier, western 
quarter of Berolingen, with its unique forest park, 
its shady avenues, canal-walks, and villa resi- 
dences. But it is within the immediate precincts 
of the great alley of limes that royal and official 
Berolingen lives and breathes. Here is the cen- 
ter of the great metropolis, where the world of 
fashion congregates. Here the people from every 
quarter, north, south, east, and west, assemble in 
their hundreds of thousands when court pageants 
or military displays are expected; for the nu- 
merous palaces of the different members of the 
Royal and Imperial house are all situated within 
a ten minutes^ radius of this center, and whether 
court processions or military reviews, royal re- 
ceptions or departures, or any other state func- 
tions, form the programme of the day^s perform- 
ance, both start and finish can only be witnessed 
on this spot, and nowhere else. 

At the time we are speaking of, that is to say 
the day after the conversation recorded in the 
preceding chapter, there was little in the aspect 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


47 


of this portion of the city to denote the existence 
of any unusual popular excitement. In the great 
Square in front of the principal entrance to the 
Royal Castle the crowd of gazers who always 
idle about here in anticipation of catching a 
glimpse of its illustrious occupant was perhaps a 
little larger than usual, and the mounted police 
stationed at all points and corners were obliged 
to display somewhat more than their ordinar}^ 
energy in enforcing the regulation which prohib- 
ited the gathering of groups in the public thor- 
oughfares. But the demeanor of the people was 
on the whole extremely orderly, and beyond a 
certain look of anxiety on some faces, and an 
air of vacant curiosity, mingled, however, with a 
peculiar expression of distrust, on others, the 
keenest observer could have detected no sign of 
that spirit of dissatisfaction and resentment which, 
according to those accustomed to gauge the state 
of the public pulse, pervaded the town. 

In the Castle itself, into which it will now be- 
come my privilege to introduce the reader, every- 
thing wore its usual tranquil appearance. In the 
various departments of the Imperial household 
work was proceeding with its wonted clockwork 
regularity. In the immense vestibule leading 
from the inner court-yard to the Imperial state 
apartments on the ground floOr of the central 
building a host of lackeys in their gorgeous liv- 


48 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


cries were to be seen solemnly pacing up and 
down between the statues and vases with which 
the place abounded, or standing at attention near 
the grand entrance itself, as if expecting every mo- 
ment to hear the cry of the sentry in the court- 
yard without heralding the approach of the Im- 
perial carriage, and to see the guard stationed in 
the gateway opposite turn out and present arms 
as his Majesty drove up and alighted at the en- 
trance. 

No one could have guessed from the empty 
expression on their stolid countenances that they 
had been waiting in this vain expectation for over 
a fortnight. Carriages, it is true, had driven up 
in considerable numbers during that period, but 
their occupants, princely or otherwise, had rarely 
alighted, and the duties of the beliveried gentle- 
men in the vestibule had consisted all this time 
in the mere reiteration to these would-be visitors 
of the now well-worn phrase, specially con- 
structed and issued from the office of the Imperial 
Chief Court Marshal, “that his Majesty would re- 
ceive no one.” 

The words were harmless, and deceived no- 
body. They simply meant that the situation, 
which was no longer a secret to any one, remained 
unaltered ; and so they were received, with a sigh 
by some, with resignation by others, and deferen- 
tially yet sadly by one and all. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


49 


The grand staircase which mounts from the 
entrance hall to the first floor of the main body 
of the Castle leads to the principal state-rooms, 
amongst which the two most important are the 
great banqueting hall, in which several hundred 
guests can be seated with ease, and the throne 
room, a chamber of colossal dimensions, used only 
on extraordinary occasions when state ceremonies 
of a specially formal character are enacted. Im- 
mediately at the top of the staircase a spacious 
corridor branches off to the left wing of the Castle, 
where the Emperor’s private apartments are sit- 
uated. These, although most sumptuously fur- 
nished, are comparatively few in number, con- 
sisting, indeed, merely of three large rooms, the 
first of which, approached through an ante-room, 
is his Majesty’s private audience chamber, and 
the two others respectively the Emperor’s study 
and his sleeping apartment, the latter immediate- 
ly adjoining the study. 

Besides these three rooms, however, which are 
exclusively reserved for the Emperor’s own use, 
there is a large library, separated only by a small 
closet from the Imperial study, and leading on the 
other side to a further set of two rooms, which con- 
stitute — or rather constituted, at the period in 
question — ^the official abode of the Imperial sec- 
retary, Doctor Georg Hofer. 

Even in this portion of the Castle, the descrip- 


50 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tion of which must suffice the reader for the pres- 
ent, there was nothing in the general appearance 
of things to indicate the occurrence of that ex- 
traordinary event which was engrossing the minds 
of the outer world. The Emperor’s apartments 
were empty, it is true; but for all the evidence 
to the contrary his Majesty might have been out 
riding or driving, or holding a review of his 
troops, or surprising the garrison of the capital — 
a pastime much affected by his Majesty — or, in 
short, engaged on any other business necessitat- 
ing a temporary absence from home. 

The approach to the Imperial apartments was 
as carefully guarded as ever. The ante-chamber 
was occupied by the Imperial aid-de-camp on 
duty, as if at any moment the call-bell from the 
inner apartment might sound and summon him 
to the presence of his illustrious master; whilst 
outside, the usual array of orderlies stood about, 
ready to hasten off with commands or dispatches 
at the shortest notice. Chamberlains and other 
household dignitaries were continually passing 
to and fro between the ante-room and the various 
official departments of the Castle; stalwart lack- 
eys stood stiff and erect at their posts before 
the door to the Imperial chambers and along the 
passage leading to it. In a word, the scene gen- 
erally presented as animated an appearance as it 
had ever done at the best of times. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


51 


In one of the rooms adjoining the library, the 
situation of which I have described above, sat, at 
this moment, two men engaged in earnest conver- 
sation. One of these, a tall, wiry figure, slightly 
bent with age, yet in every limb still expressive 
of a vitality that would have arrested attention 
even in a younger man, was Sir John Templeton 
himself. The other, a man of commanding pres- 
ence, with a handsome, though somewhat stern 
cast of features, who was seated at a large writing- 
table strewn with a mass of books, papers, and 
official documents, was no other than the famous 
Imperial private secretary. Doctor Georg Hofer. 

The gossip concerning this man and his rela- 
tions to the missing Emperor will have awakened 
sufficient curiosity in the mind of the reader to jus- 
tify a somew’hat more detailed description of this 
interesting personage than that already given. 

As regards his age, he might have been any- 
thing between twenty-five and thirty-five. His 
head was rather round than oval in shape, but his 
face had a marked individuality of its own in all 
its parts. Each feature was sharply defined and 
well-proportioned, the nose tending somewhat to 
the aquiline, the forehead high and arched, the 
eyebrows finely curved, and the lips strong and 
determined. His hair was of a dark brown color, 
matching with that of the beard, which he wore 
slightly pointed. By his dress one could not fail 


52 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


to recognize in him a man accustomed to move in 
circles where fashion is a power, if not a deity. 
His attire was faultless, yet quiet, and in the latter 
respect accorded with his general demeanor, 
which was grave and reserved, almost excessively 
so in one of his years. 

This picture, however, so far as it goes, conveys 
but a slight idea of the real character of the man. 
This was not stamped on any feature ; it revealed 
itself in the eyes alone. No one could have met 
the firm, dignified expression in these eyes with- 
out being instantly struck with the sense of power 
which spoke in them; ay, and something even 
beyond that; a certain subtle influence difficult 
to define, but which few can resist, the influence 
of a mind concentrated in itself, like that of the 
magnetizer, who by the sheer force of his will can 
direct the thoughts and guide the actions of his 
less gifted fellow mortals. 

This, then, was the man who, if report could 
be believed, had succeeded in accomplishing what 
the greatest statesman of the century, if not of all 
times, had failed to accomplish: that is to say, to 
gain an ascendency over the strong-willed young 
monarch who sat on the throne of Arminia. True, 
to all outward appearance this success had not 
been lasting. Even now, he who had once been 
the powerful favorite, sought after by many, en- 
vied by all, was to all intents and purposes a pris- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


53 


oner; confined in a palace, indeed, yet none the 
less a captive; treated with consideration and re- 
spect, yet not free to move at will, to come and 
go when and where he listed. And more strange 
than all this: the Emperor, whose friendship he 
had succeeded in gaining — he alone of the hun- 
dreds who had striven for it, and intrigued for it, 
and fought for it — the master to whom he appar- 
ently had known how to make himself indispens- 
able, had vanished completely from view, as if 
suddenly removed from the face of fhe earth. 

Here was a curious reversal of fortunes. Those 
who had but yesterday sued for his favor, the very 
ministers and generals who had eyed him with 
that keen distrust which is born of fear and jeal- 
ousy, and which no smiles can effectually con- 
ceal, were now his jailers, responsible for his 
safe-keeping, but responsible also for his safety 
and well-being. They knew, or they fancied they 
knew, that he alone had enjoyed the confidence 
of their sovereign; a misplaced confidence, of 
course, they thought, as, indeed, what monarch’s 
confidence is not misplaced in the opinion of those 
upon whom it has not been bestowed. Perhaps 
even, in spite of the suspicions of the Berolingen 
populace, they were inwardly convinced that the 
key to the mysterv which baffled them and threat- 
ened to spread disaster throughout the length and 
breadth of the world was in this very man’s pos- 


54 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


session. And yet they felt their hands tied, their 
actions fettered, by the sovereign commands of 
the Emperor himself, whom to disobey, even with 
the most loyal intentions, meant to offend and 
displease forever. What if it all were but a feint 
to try that spirit of blind obedience which the 
young autocrat demanded from all who served 
him? The favorite had fallen, but might he not 
rise again? He had lost the influence that had 
once been his, but might he not regain it? After 
all, he was perhaps only checked, not overthrown, 
rebuffed, but not discarded. In short, the posi- 
tion was altogether anomalous. The history 
of royal favorites afforded no parallel instance 
from which some conclusion as to the true mean- 
ing of the riddle might have been drawn. 

The man who now sat opposite the object of 
all these doubts and fears seemed as unconscious 
of them as he was unmoved by the evident air 
of haughty reserve with which his companion 
treated him. Different as they were in external 
appearance, these two men were strangely well- 
matched in respect of those finer qualities of the 
mind in which man^s real strength lies; and they 
felt it too, the one proudly, suspiciously, the other 
with undisguised satisfaction, and with an inter- 
est as keen as that of the champion who for once 
meets a foeman of his own peculiar stamp. 

Sir John Templeton, true to the principle, from 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


55 


which he rarely deviated, that, although facts 
concerning the actions of men may be convenient- 
ly learned at second hand, no reliable opinion as 
to the motives underlying them can be formed 
from such intermediary sources, had lost no time, 
after his arrival in Berolingen, in seeking out the 
one man whom he believed to be possessed of 
the key to the mystery he had undertaken to solve. 
It was characteristic, too, of his method of pro- 
cedure that he should have declined to hold speech 
on the subject of his mission with any one, whether 
a member of the Government or not, until he had 
been brought face to face with the man of whose 
character and individuality he desired above all 
things to form a free and independent judgment. 

This decision considerably surprised the min- 
isterial councilor who had been his traveling com- 
panion from the frontier, and with whom, at such 
times when he was not occupied in studying the 
official report which, at Sir John’s own request, 
that gentleman had been charged to convey to 
him, he discoursed pleasantly on every possible 
topic excepting the all-important one on which it 
might have been supposed that his whole interest 
was concentrated. The astonishment of the Ar- 
minian official, however, was greater still when 
they arrived at Berolingen, and Sir John Temple- 
ton, on being received at the station by the Im- 
perial Chancellor’s private secretary, who was in 


56 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


waiting to conduct him forthwith to the Chan- 
cellor himself, courteously but firmly declined 
that honor, as if it were a mere trifle. He would 
wait upon his Excellency later in the day, Sir John 
said. For the present he merely requested that 
instructions should be given at the Royal Castle 
which would insure his admittance to the pres- 
ence of his Majesty’s private secretary, whose per- 
sonal acquaintance he was anxious to make. 

Thereupon he had taken a courteous leave of 
his traveling companion, and driven straight to 
the British Embassy, a handsome palace forming 
the corner of the famous Willibald Street and the 
Avenue of Limes in the center of the town, where 
he was to stay as the guest of Sir Edward Ham- 
mer, her Majesty’s representative at the Arminian 
court. Two hours later he was closeted with 
Doctor Georg Hofer, the Emperor’s much- 
talked-of private secretary, in his apartments in 
the Royal Castle. 

It is marvelous how quick kindred minds are 
to recognize each other. These two men had 
been together but a short quarter of an hour, and 
they had never met before that day. Yet each 
had already gauged the other’s power, and was 
prepared to pit his own against it. 

With what result the reader will now learn. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


57 


CHAPTER IV. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE IMPERIAL SECRE- 
TARY. 

Sir John Templeton was not the man to clothe 
his intentions in ambiguous language, or to beat 
about the bush when his purpose was to effect a 
definite understanding. He had come to offer a 
compact and after the first formal interchange of 
courtesies between him and the Imperial Secretary 
he had frankly stated the object of his visit and ex- 
plained the nature of the mission which had 
brought him to Berolingen. 

Doctor HofePs countenance, while listening to 
the brief exposition of the circumstances which 
had preceded his visitors arrival in the Arminian 
capital, was inscrutable. Had the speaker been 
expatiating upon the most commonplace of oc- 
currences, the effect of what he said upon his 
listener could scarcely have been less stirring. 
Once or twice, when Sir John made passing men- 
tion of the grave political crisis in Europe, to 
which the EmperoPs disappearance had given 
birth, he raised his eyebrows ever so slightly, 
showing thereby the facts alluded to were new 


58 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


to him. But, with these few exceptions, he mere- 
ly sat listening with polite attention, his eyes fixed 
the while upon his visitor with a quiet, studious 
gaze. 

“You do me a signal honor by this visit. Sir 
John Templeton,^’ he said, with a faint touch of 
irony, when the old diplomat- had concluded, “and 
it is one that I can appreciate the more, as I have 
of late not been overburdened with such distinc- 
tions. But, since it is apparently based upon the 
assumption that I possess intelligence bearing 
upon the matter you have at heart, I fear I cannot 
claim to merit it. I possess no such intelligence, 
and can therefore be of little service to you.” 

There was a ring of determination in these 
words, which might have escaped a less practiced 
ear than that of the man to whom they were ad- 
dressed. 

“Were it merely a question of your rendering 
me a service,” Sir John said, “I should not have 
ventured to trouble you. Doctor Hofer. Let me 
assure you, to begin with, that I have sought you 
less as being the person chiefly concerned in the 
mysterious disappearance of his Majesty, the 
Emperor, than as the individual most deeply in- 
terested in his safe return.” 

“In other words,” the Doctor replied, “you 
have come to render me a service?” 

“Possibly,” Sir John rejoined. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


59 


‘‘And in what may that service consist?” 

“For the present merely in soliciting your as- 
sistance in the task that lies before me.” 

“My assistance?” the other said, with a bitter 
smile. “That sounds almost like a pleasantry. 
You see me here virtually a prisoner within these 
four walls, cut off from all communication with 
the outer world, and consequently more ignorant 
of the events that are moving it than any other 
living creature in this city.” 

“True,” Sir John Templeton said, gravely. 
“And you might add: consequently the less able 
to gauge the extent of the danger that threatens 
you.” 

“Me?” 

“You.” 

“From what quarter?” 

“From those who may hold you responsible for 
the Emperor’s fate — whatever that fate may be.” 

“And upon what grounds would they be justi- 
fied in thus holding me responsible for that of 
which I know as little as they themselves?” 

“The grounds are numerous. But one will be 
sufficient. You were the last person who saw 
his Majesty alive.” 

“Possibly. What does that prove?” 

“In itself little. But in conjunction with the 
fact that his Majesty’s last act was to issue an 


60 


the vanished emperor. 


order depriving you of your freedom it might lead 
to an ominous conclusion.’^ 

“I fail to see the logic of such conclusion.” 

‘‘The logic is simple. His Majesty is not ac- 
customed to act without a purpose, and the in- 
terpretation that will be placed upon his intentions 
in this particular instance, in the event of his ab- 
sence continuing indefinitely, is not likely to be 
favorable to yourself.” 

“Well?” 

“That is your danger. It might occur — nay, it 
probably has occurred — ^to those to whose safe- 
keeping you have been consigned that, in solving 
the mystery attaching to the arrest of the Em- 
peror’s private secretary and confidant on the eve 
of his Majesty’s strange disappearance, the ex- 
planation of that disappearance itself may be 
found.” 

An expression of genuine surprise came into 
the Doctor’s eyes. 

“What you say there,” he observed, after a mo- 
ment’s reflection, “is more interesting to me than 
you perhaps imagine. Indeed, he who enlightens 
me as to the reason for the extraordinary treat- 
ment to which his Majesty has thought fit to sub- 
ject me will confer an inestimable boon upon me.” 

“You yourself, then, can assign no reason 
for it?” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 61 

“It is a mystery more profound to me than that 
of his Majesty^s disappearance itself.” 

“And yet, if I am correctly informed,” Sir John 
said, “there had been signs that his Majesty had 
ceased to regard you with the same favor as of 
old.” 

“Even so ; the fact enhances rather than lessens 
the mystery. You are not the first. Sir John 
Templeton,” Doctor Hofer went on, falling once 
more into his former tone of curt and frigid 
hauteur, “who has thus plied me with questions 
since his Majesty^s disappearance. It is a pity 
that those who have sent you to me did not spare 
you the trouble of repeating a process the result 
of which can only be a negative one. I have, as 
I have already said, nothing to divulge. I am 
detained here,” he exclaimed, growing warmer as 
he proceeded, “a captive, humiliated and dis- 
graced without cause or reason, an object of dis- 
trust and suspicion to those who watch and guard 
me, and yet ignorant of the very nature of the 
crime they apparently impute to me. The Em- 
peror, whom it seems I have offended, though by 
what action of mine I know not, has mysteriously 
left his palace and his capital, and because I, for- 
sooth, was the last person with whom he is sup- 
posed to have conversed, it appears that I am 
to be held answerable for his non-return. It is 
but one instance more of the famous spirit of 


62 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


Brandenburgian justice. Had I not the misfor- 
tune to be a Noverian — but enough, why dwell 
upon it? I know only too well toward what this 
all tends.” 

His speech had grown quick and animated, and 
he pulled himself up toward the close, as if re- 
gretting that he had allowed himself to be en- 
trained upon debatable ground. 

‘The misfortune,” Sir John remarked, “is not 
alone that you happen to be a Noverian, Doctor 
Hofer, but that the Emperor is believed by some 
to be at this moment detained a prisoner by the 
party who have recklessly raised the standard of 
rebellion in the kingdom to which his Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Cumbermere lays claim.” 

“I have heard that extraordinary story,” Doctor 
Hofer said coldly. “Do you believe it?” 

“I believe exactly so much of it as you do your- 
self,” Sir John Templeton replied, somewhat am- 
biguously. 

“And assuming it were true,” Doctor Hofer 
went on, apparently ignoring the reply, “by what 
stretch of fancy could I be supposed to be impli- 
cated?” 

“You are an avowed friend of the Duke of Cum- 
bermere,” Sir John said, “and are known to have 
maintained a secret correspondence with him up 
to the very date of his Majesty’s disappearance.” 

“Well?” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


63 


“Is it necessary for me to point out the possible 
construction that may be placed upon this cir- 
cumstance? His Majesty the Emperor — ” 

“Has been perfectly cognizant of the fact of this 
correspondence, sir,” Doctor Hofer broke in 
haughtily. 

“Precisely,” Sir John rejoined; “for the cor- 
respondence has passed through his Majesty’s 
own hands.” 

Doctor Hofer gave a slight start. 

“That is indeed new to me,” he said slowly. 
“But, since his Majesty has always been aware 
of my sentiments, even this alleged violation of 
the privacy of my letters can have resulted in 
nothing more than a confirmation of that which 
he already knew.” 

“Possibly that may be so,” Sir John answered. 
“Only the question is not what his Majesty knows, 
but what interpretation his Government may place 
upon it.” 

“Am I to understand, then, that my correspond- 
ence with the Duke of Cumbermere is in the pos- 
session of the Arminian government?” Doctor 
Hofer asked, with the shade of a frown upon his 
face. 

“The Government possesses copies of all letters 
that have passed between you and his Royal High- 
ness, the Duke of Cumbermere, since the begin- 
ning of this year,” Sir John replied. 


64 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“You are therefore doubtless acquainted with 
their contents?” 

“I am.” 

“You have certainly the merit of being strange- 
ly frank, sir,” Doctor Hofer said, after a pause, 
during which he eyed his visitor with an undis- 
guised expression of intei'est 

“I know of no better weapon against deception,” 
Sir John answered simply. “My object is to un- 
do, not to add to, the mischief which has been 
caused by the blindness and duplicity of those 
upon whose discretion and wisdom I believe the 
Emperor has relied. Even you must be to some 
extent aware of the terrible consequences with 
which their foolish policy of secrecy and conceal- 
ment has already been fraught. Arminia is on 
the verge of total disruption. Franconia threatens 
her in the west, and Russia is encroaching upon 
her in the east. Meanwhile her own fears par- 
alyze her actions, and render her even incapable 
of coping with the most ordinary of her inner dif- 
ficulties. In another week. Doctor Georg Hofer,” 
he concluded, impressively, “unless the Emperor 
returns to his capital, or something definite is 
ascertained regarding his fate, an European war 
will have broken out; with what result to Ar- 
minia I may leave you to conceive.” 

Doctor Hofer was silent for a moment. 

“The picture you draw is a desperate one, in- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


65 


deed,” he said at last. “But let us trust that it 
is somewhat exaggerated. Even supposing all 
this were to come about as you predict, are not the 
Arminian sovereigns able to hold their own? If 
their Emperor has forsaken them, there are others 
among the monarchs of Arminia who will be capa- 
ble of replacing him.” 

“And peradventure as anxious to do so as they 
are capable,” Sir John remarked dryly. “It is 
just here where Arminia’s chief and most immedi- 
ate danger lies ; and if it is to be averted, no time 
must be lost. Even while you are speaking, the 
sovereigns of the Arminian states are hurrying 
from all sides to the Imperial capital, and will as- 
semble here in full conclave to deliberate on the 
very measure you have mentioned.” 

“Well? And do you think — ” 

“I think, sir,” Sir John said, “that such a meet- 
ing of the Arminian sovereigns at this particular 
juncture will produce a revolution, but not an 
Emperor.” 

“A revolution? What, in Berolingen?” 

“Not only in Berolingen, but throughout the 
entire Kingdom of Brandenburg, without whose 
support and co-operation an Arminian Empire 
would be a body without a backbone, mere flesh 
without muscle. Believe me, sir, Franconia could 
wish for no better opportunity of reclaiming what 
it has lost than the moment when the sovereigns 


66 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


of Arminia assemble in the Imperial capital to 
adjust that which is not adjustable.” 

“Yet surely,” the other exclaimed, impressed 
in spite of himself by what he had heard, “it is 
imperative that something should be done to meet 
this unheard of position. Where, then, in the 
name of all reason, is the Emperor, whose unac- 
countable absence is the cause of all this con- 
fusion?” 

“That,” Sir John replied, “is a question I have 
set myself to solve.” 

“And do you think you will succeed?” 

“With your aid — ^yes. Without it, only if time 
and events do not forestall me.” 

“With my aid?” Doctor Hofer said. “I do not 
follow your meaning. In what respect, pray, can 
my humble aid serve you?” 

“In so far that you can save me the trouble of 
finding out for myself, as I undoubtedly shall, for 
what purpose you have entered the service and 
gained the confidence of the Arminian Emperor. 
Nay, why start up and frown? We are two men. 
Doctor Georg Hofer, well, if not equally matched. 
Why should we fear to speak our thoughts to each 
other? It requires but little wisdom to tell me 
that you had a purpose in availing yourself of the 
youthful friendship of a monarch, the cause of 
whose enemies you confessedly uphold. It is 
no less obvious to me that that purpose has been 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


67 


discovered by his Majesty, and that to know it 
means to know the solution of the mystery which 
is now convulsing Europe.” 

Doctor Hofer had risen, and now regarded his 
companion with a penetrating look. Gradually 
a lofty smile crept into his face, and he said 
calmly: 

“I have heard something of your powers of 
perception. Sir John Templeton. In this instance, 
however, you will forgive me if I fail to appre- 
ciate them. I am a Noverian, by birth and by 
sympathy. The Emperor knows it, and has al- 
ways known it, for I have never endeavored to 
conceal the fact. I have been credited, I know, 
with an influence on his Majesty which I have 
never possessed. By heaven,” he exclaimed, with 
an angry outburst, “has it not even been asserted 
that it was I who induced the Emperor to grant 
an amnesty to this double-faced scoundrel Von 
Arnold, and restore to him the estates which 
his father forfeited when he loyally threw in his 
lot with his ill-fated King? That act of restitu- 
tion, for which I never pleaded, was his Majesty^s 
own spontaneous inspiration — for what cause I 
know not, unless it be that he hoped thereby to 
deprive the cause of the Noverian dynasty of its 
most influential supporter ; in which case,” he 
added bitterly, “it would seem that he has only 
too well succeeded.” 


68 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


^‘You are of opinion, then,” Sir John broke in, 
“that Baron von Arnold has suddenly become a 
traitor to the cause for which he has hitherto sac- 
rificed so much?” 

“And if I were of that opinion, sir?” 

“The opinion seems somewhat strange in face 
of the fact that the Baron has just espoused the 
sister of the very man who holds it.” 

“His Majesty is aware that this marriage never 
had my approval ; indeed, that I opposed it to the 
very utmost limit of my power and means.” 

“Why?” 

The directness of the question seemed momen- 
tarily to disconcert the Doctor. 

“The reason is self-evident, I think,” he said, 
evasively. “But we are wandering from the sub- 
ject. My private affairs can scarcely be suspected 
to have a bearing upon the important matter 
which is at present engaging your attention. 
Pshaw,” he went on, more calmly, “loyal Noverian 
though I am, I am well aware that, if the rights 
of the Duke of Cumbermere are to meet with 
just recognition, it is not by dint of arms, nor by 
the puny attempts at rebellion made by a band 
of well-meaning and fanatic devotees, that such 
recognition is to be obtained. If his Majesty has 
really been deceived by this rising, it is not the 
fault of the Duke of Cumbermere, without whose 
privity, you may rest assured, it has taken place. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


69 


As for the purpose you are good enough to credit 
me with, I have certainly availed myself of the 
friendship extended to me by his Majesty in order 
to open his eyes to the just claims of the prince 
whose heritage he withholds from him. If this 
fact can be construed as the result of a premedi- 
tated purpose, you are welcome to the interpreta- 
tion. I shall be the last person to deny it.” 

The tone of these words was unmistakable. It 
meant that, so far as the speaker was concerned, 
the matter ended there. 

Sir John Templeton rose quietly. 

“I must of course accept your answer. Doctor 
Hofer,” he said. “Unfortunately, however, for 
your opinion as to the Duke of Cumbermere’s 
privity to the incidents in Noveria, there is a 
circumstance which places this matter in a some- 
what different light. It will possibly be news to 
you to learn that the Duke of Cumbermere sailed 
for Europe more than a fortnight ago, that he 
landed on the Belgian coast the day before yester- 
day, and is at this moment presumably well on his 
way to join his faithful followers in the realm 
which his late father forfeited.” 

As he spoke he drew a copy of an English 
newspaper from his pocket, and handed it gravely 
to the Imperial Secretary, 

Doctor Hofer had grown strangely pale, and 
his hand trembled perceptibly as he took and 


70 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


glanced at the paper. But he seemed conscious 
that his companion’s eyes were riveted upon his 
countenance, and he regained his composure al- 
most instantly. 

"Tooh,” he said, crushing the paper in his hands 
and throwing it down with an air of disdain. “The 
thing is a fable, must be a fable — or — ” 

“Or you have been grossly deceived,” Sir John 
Templeton said quietly. “That is what you would 
say. And indeed, is it not more than probable 
that you have been deceived. Doctor Georg Hofer, 
and in a quarter from which you least expected 
deception?” 

“It is impossible, totally impossible, I say,” 
Doctor Hofer exclaimed, pacing the room in 
great agitation. 

“Impossible that you, the Duke of Cumber- 
mere’s trusted friend and correspondent, who has 
been in constant communication with his Royal 
Highness, could have been left in ignorance of 
that which so deeply concerns, not only his High- 
ness’ plans, but your own safety?” 

“It is impossible,” the other repeated once more. 

“May I ask,” Sir John said, “when you last re- 
ceived a communication from the Duke?” 

The question seemed to surprise the Doctor. 
But he made no reply. 

“But I can save you the trouble of answering 
the question,” Sir John continued. “The Duke’s 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


71 


last letter reached you three weeks ago, a day 
before his Majesty^s disappearance. From the 
copy,” he added tranquilly, “of that letter, which 
I have been permitted to inspect — ” 

Doctor Hofer bit his lip fiercely. But Sir John 
went on apparently without noticing it. 

“From this copy it is clear that the writer either 
had no intention of starting for Europe at the 
date of the writing, or that it did not suit with 
his plans to acquaint his correspondent at the 
court of Arminia with the fact that he harbored 
such intention. Your own letters unfortunately 
throw no light upon the matter, so that the Ar- 
minian Government are left to choose between 
the two alternative assumptions. It is not diffi- 
cult to guess upon which one their choice will 
fall.” 

“And that is?” 

“I will explain it briefly. They think the Em- 
peror has fallen into a trap set him by the Duke 
of Cumbermere, perhaps with the aid and con- 
nivance of certain exalted personages whose 
names I refrain from mentioning, and that the 
principal instrument in luring his Majesty to his 
fate is the man whom the Emperor, conscious no 
doubt of the risk he was incurring, has left in the 
safe custody of his advisers — in other words, your- 
self.” 


72 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“And by what means is it supposed that I have 
succeeded in thus deluding his Majesty 

“It would take too long to enumerate the many 
theories propounded in this regard,” Sir John re- 
plied. “But what combinations are possible 
hardly requires much thought to conceive. Re- 
call the facts for yourself, Doctor Hofer. On 
January 15 the Emperor, disregarding the advice 
of his responsible ministers, and, as it is supposed, 
at the instance of his Noverian secretary, grants 
a free pardon to Baron Frederick von Arnold, 
the son of the late King of Noveria’s Prime Min- 
ister, and one of the confidential group of friends 
surrounding the Noverian pretender, the Duke 
of Cumbermere, in his American retreat. Four 
weeks later Herr von Arnold returns to Arminia 
and re-enters into possession of his family estates, 
selecting as his residence, not his possessions in 
the Noverian province, but the property of Ar- 
noldshausen in Brandenburg, not thirty miles 
from Berolingen. Coincident with the young 
Baron’s return are two events the connection be- 
tween which would appear to be obvious. I mean 
the sudden activity of the Noverian party in the 
annexed province, and the estrangement between 
his Majesty the Emperor and the man upon whom 
he had until that moment bestowed his confidence 
and friendship, and for whose sake his act of 
clemency toward Herr von Arnold is believed to 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


73 


have been accomplished. Of Herr von Arnold^s 
movements, after his return to his own, little is 
ascertained. He lives almost as a recluse upon 
the smallest of his vast estates, which he never 
leaves, apparently visiting no one and visited 
by none. Meanwhile the disturbances in Noveria 
increase, and the Emperor treats them with in- 
explicable leniency, until they reach a pitch which 
can no longer be disregarded. Then the extra- 
ordinary event happens upon which the whole 
mystery turns. The Emperor vanishes, on the 
very eve of a long premeditated voyage to the 
East, and simultaneous with his strange disap- 
pearance comes the news of the Duke of Cum- 
bermere’s departure from America and return to 
Europe. These facts. Doctor Georg Hofer, com- 
bined with the apparently trivial incident of the 
order for the practical arrest of the man whose 
sister has so recently become the wife of Baron 
von Arnold, suggest, as you will admit, the not 
unnatural conclusion — ” 

“That Doctor Hofer and Herr von Arnold, 
acting as the agents of the Duke of Cumbermere, 
have conspired to lead the Arminian Emperor 
into the power of the Noverian rebel party — a 
truly wild conclusion, in all faith. And do you 
share it?” 

“If I shared it, sir,” Sir John said, “I should not 
be standing here now.” 


74 


THE VANISHED EMPBKOR. 


“You have formed some definite opinion, then, 
as to his Majesty’s purposes in thus vanishing 
from his capital?” 

“I have formed certain conclusions as to what 
were not his purposes, sir, and they are so com- 
prehensive that few possible ones remain for 
closer investigation.” 

“And when do you suppose you will have suc- 
ceeded in solving the problem?” 

“When I have succeeded in solving the simpler 
one which I have already mentioned: the cause 
of your presence at the Imperial court of Arminia, 
Doctor Hofer.” 

The Doctor made an impatient gesture. 

“You still adhere, then, to the belief that I am 
concerned in this unfortunate mystery?” 

“Our conversation has rendered the belief a 
conviction.” 

“In short, that I have sacrificed the liberty, and 
perhaps the life, of his Majesty the Emperor 
Willibald of Arminia for some alleged hidden pur- 
pose of my own?” 

“On the contrary,” Sir John answered with a 
smile. “That his Majesty the Arminian Emper- 
or has thwarted this alleged purpose of your own, 
as you please to term it, by acting as he has 
done.” 

The Doctor looked at him in silence. 

“Were any other man but Sir John Templeton 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


75 


to tell me this,” he said at last, “I should conclude 
him—” 

“To be a fool. Doctor Hofer. Possibly. You 
scout my conclusion. Yet you yourself have just 
now propounded a theory scarcely less astonish- 
ing than mine.” 

“What theory, sir?” 

“The theory that Baron Frederick von Arnold, 
the husband of the lady who, if report be true, 
excels even her brother in her loyalty to the 
cause of the house of Noveria, has traitorously 
forsaken that cause in order to regain possession 
of the estates which his father sacrificed for it.” 

The other shrugged his shoulders contemptu- 
ously. 

“Unfortunately,” he said, “history records many 
parallel instances of such treachery.” 

“But surely none,” Sir John observed, “where 
the traitor signalizes his treachery by espousing 
a passionate adherent of the very cause he has 
betrayed.” 

“You are singularly well acquainted with the 
sentiments of the lady you speak of,” said the 
Doctor, eyeing him suspiciously. “Am I to infer 
from this circumstance that not even the cor- 
respondence between my sister and myself has 
escaped the prying attention of his Majesty^s 
advisers?” 

Sir John bowed an assent. 


76 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“I have had the privilege of reading some of 
Demoiselle Hofer’s letters to her brother,” he 
said, “from which I have gathered that hatred of 
the house of Brandenburg is the first and most 
important article of the creed she has been reared 
in from her earliest infancy.” 

The Doctor turned away with a shrug, and 
made no reply. 

“Does it not strike you as at least worthy of 
consideration,” Sir John continued, without heed- 
ing the gesture, “that his Majesty^s Government 
should have taken so entirely different a view of 
the relationship existing between the Emperor 
and this latest Noverian protege of his?” 

“If you mean by that, sir,” Doctor Hofer re- 
joined sharply, “that his Majesty^s Government 
distrust this man, I see practically little difference 
between our respective views ; for so do 1.” 

“True; but the suspicion the Arminian Gov- 
ernment entertain against him — ” 

“Is preposterous, sir,” the other exclaimed with 
some petulance. “Have not you yourself ad- 
mitted it?” 

“With a certain reservation, yes,” Sir John 
Templeton replied. “I am, as I have already said, 
convinced. Doctor Hofer, that you possess no 
knowledge of the Emperor’s whereabouts.” 

The Doctor inclined his head with an ironical 
smile. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


77 


“But I am equally convinced,” Sir John went 
on, quietly, “that Baron Frederick von Arnold 
does.” 

“Then, in heaven’s name,” the Doctor ex- 
claimed, with a passionateness which was start- 
lingly sudden, “if such be the views of his Ma- 
jesty’s Government, why do they not lay hands 
on this man? They have him in their power, 
and if he alone on God’s earth knows what fate 
has befallen the Emperor — ” 

“Would his mere seizure suffice to secure the 
principal object the Government seek to attain; 
that is to say, to bring his Majesty safely back to 
his capital? You forget. Doctor Hofer, that the 
Emperor’s absence is not believed to be voluntary, 
and, moreover, that it is supposed to be connected 
with the rebellious manifestations in Noveria. 
Under these circumstances his Majesty’s Govern- 
ment have been content for the present merely to 
watch Herr von Arnold’s movements with the 
view of intercepting any communication that may 
pass between him and the rebel leaders.” 

“A wise proceeding, forsooth,” the Doctor said 
contemptuously. “And pray, with what success 
has it been attended?” 

“Hitherto with none,” Sir John replied. “It 
has, on the contrary, been established, I think 
beyond a doubt, that Baron von Arnold holds 
no communication whatever with the outer world. 


78 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


but is living tranquilly on his estate at Arnolds- 
hausen, enjoying the first sweets of his married 
life.” 

Doctor Hofer strode impulsively to the window 
and gazed out. Presently he returned, and faced 
his companion with a searching look. 

“Why do you tell me all this?” he said, in a 
short, almost forced tone. 

“As I have already explained,” Sir John Tem- 
pleton answered calmly, “to warn you of the 
danger to which you are exposed, not only from 
the Arminian Government, to whose vigilant care 
the Emperor, for reasons known to himself alone, 
has confided you, but from a far more formidable 
quarter. Events, if I mistake not, are rapidly 
striding toward a crisis unprecedented even in 
Arminia^s checkered history, and though the sov- 
ereign’s commands may protect you from the 
wrath of those to whose custody he has consigned 
you, not many days may elapse before even they 
will require to seek protection from the senseless 
fury of the people whom they have foolishly 
sought to delude.” 

Hofer paced the room gravely, a stern expres- 
sion upon his handsome features. 

“You believe, in short, that the people of Bero- 
lingen will rise and overthrow the Government?” 

“Berolingen is at this very moment in the 
throes gf a revolution ” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


79 


“Caused by the absence of the Emperor?” 

“Caused by the folly of those who have con- 
verted his absence into a national calamity, sir.” 

“And this assemblage of the Arminian Princes, 
you think, will be the match that ignites the revo- 
lutionary flame?” 

“A populace whose suspicions are once aroused 
is quick at forming conclusions. That the im- 
perious nature and independent character of the 
young Emperor have caused many heartburnings 
among the confederate sovereigns who acknowl- 
edge his supreme leadership, is a matter of com- 
mon history. The indecent haste shown to re- 
place him by another of their own choice has not 
unnaturally given rise to the wildest conjectures 
among a populace already highly excited. The 
fire is smouldering; it requires but a breath to 
fan it into flame.” 

“And this breath,” Doctor Hofer said reflec- 
tively. 

But at that moment a rattling of carriage wheels, 
and a succession of shouts, accompanied by the 
clatter of feet and the beating of drums, as the 
guard turned out to render a royal salute, sounded 
in the castle courtyard without, and interrupted 
the speakers sentence. Stepping quickly to the 
window. Sir John Templeton looked out. 

.“There,” he said gravely, pointing to the occu- 
pant of the Imperial equipage which had just 


80 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


driven up to the grand entrance, “is the first symp- 
tom of the coming storm.” 

Doctor Hofer, who had followed him to the 
window, gazed with some surprise at the royal 
visitor, who now alighted. 

“The Prince Regent of Wittelsbach?” he mur- 
mured. 

“The first of the Arminian sovereigns to arrive 
in Berolingen,” Sir John said. “The rest will fol- 
low. Is not the fact suggestive? Twenty years 
ago. Doctor Georg Hofer, the then ruler of Wit- 
telsbach, Brandenburg^s most jealous rival in the 
Arminian confederacy, was the first to acclaim 
the venerable King Willibald of Brandenburg as 
Arminian Emperor. That was on the soil of con- 
quered Franconia. You know, as well as I do, 
what it cost to induce proud Wittelsbach to sub- 
mit to the political leadership of the great rival 
estate. The wound to its pride has never healed. 
Powerful as Brandenburg is, and paramount 
among the sovereignties of Arminia, let Noveria, 
that trophy of Brandenburg’s victorious war with 
Austria and the southern Arminian states, be once 
more wrenched from her and restored as an in- 
dependent Arminian kingdom, and the prepond- 
erance of Brandenburg’s power is no longer such 
as to outweigh the ambition of its proud southern 
rival; more especially,” he added, fixing his com- 
panion with a meaning look, “if, with the return 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


81 


of the Duke of Cumbermere, Wittelsbach should 
gain a grateful ally where Brandenburg loses a 
great territory.” 

Doctor Hofer fell back with an air of bewildered 
surprise. 

^‘Do you mean,” he said, “that the Regent of 
Wittelsbach has taken advantage of the Emper- 
or’s disappearance to league himself with the ad- 
herents of the Noverian dynasty, and, by restoring 
the kingdom to its rightful owner, the Duke of 
Cumbermere, to gain the latter’s support in the 
Imperial council? By the powers, the idea is so 
well conceived that I could almost wish it were 
true.” 

“If it should prove true, sir,” Sir John Temple- 
ton said solemnly, “rest assured that you will not 
live to see it accomplished. For the present, the 
idea is merely the outcome of popular fancy and 
suspicion run wild. Yet such as it is, it bodes 
little good to one in your position.” 

He paused for an instant; then he resumed in 
his ordinary tone : 

“I have done what in me lay to open your eyes 
to the grave peril in which you stand, and I have 
no more to say. If I must work without your 
aid, there is no help for it. Perhaps,” he added, 
with a peculiar look, “we separate, both of us, 
wiser men than we met. Before I go, one more 
word of warning, Doctor Hofer. If you value 


82 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

the life of hftn to whose cause you have devoted 
so much, take no step without consulting me. 
The advice is that of a friend. Follow it.” 

Before Doctor Hofer could answer he had left 
the room and was gone. 

For the space of a full hour the Imperial Secre- 
tary paced his room like a caged lion, stern and 
wrathful. Outside, the unusual stir and bustle 
caused by the advent of the royal visitor con- 
tinued. There was much rushing to and fro, and 
clangor of swords and other military display. A 
constant stream of equipages was flowing into 
the great castle yard, and their occupants alighted 
and passed into the building — some with slow, 
phlegmatic movement, some briskly, and with an 
eager, expectant mien. Princes of the royal 
house of Brandenburg, ministers, generals, and 
court and state dignitaries of every kind and de- 
scription, were among these prompt visitors, all 
apparently hastening to pay their respects to the 
illustrious guest whose arrival was looked upon 
as an omen of the gravest significance. This 
change in the aspect of the Castle surroundings 
was a strangely striking one; and indeed, had it 
been caused by the long hoped-for return of its 
Imperial lord himself, it could scarcely have been 
greater. 

Doctor Georg Hofer took note of all this, but 
pursued his relentless promenade, wrapped in 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


thoughts which to all appearances were totally 
unconnected with the events that were passing 
around him. They were stormy thoughts, too, 
as was evidenced by the passionate way in which 
he would ever and anon stop short and clench his 
hands, like a man reduced to the extremity of 
despair. Could Sir John Templeton have taken 
a glimpse now of the calm and haughty personage 
with whom he had just held an apparently fruit- 
less converse, he might well have stood amazed 
at the metamorphosis he had meanwhile under- 
gone. 

Whether the spectacle would have enlightened 
him on the one point on which he was avowedly 
seeking enlightenment, it is, however, difficult to 
say. 


CHAPTER V. 

THE DOWAGER EMPRESS FRITZ. 

Sir John Templeton was right. Within forty- 
eight hours of the interview recorded in the last 
chapter the Prince Regent of Wittelsbach^s ar- 
rival had been followed by that of nearly every 
reigning sovereign in Arminia. 

It would be impossible to conceive a more ex- 
traordinary contrast than that afforded at this 


84 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


period between the life at the Imperial court of 
Berolingen and the demeanor of those classes of 
society of which nine-tenths of the population of 
the metropolis was composed. In keeping with 
the sorry farce enacted by the Arminian Govern- 
ment to blind the country, and, indeed, the world 
generally, to the palpable fact that a crisis of the 
most momentous nature was pending, the Im- 
perial court had not only maintained its ordinary 
appearance, as if nothing had occurred to affect 
it, but had developed an even greater activity 
than was customary at this time of the year. 

The Emperor’s absence in this sphere of society 
was never alluded to in words. It was tacitly 
accepted as a matter of course. At the Royal 
Castle, the abode of the sovereign, there was, 
under the circumstances, naturally no sign of 
that gay and festive life which to the outer world 
is the gilt that hides the rough substance of care, 
and toil, and worry, and anxiety which consti- 
tutes the reality of royal existence. But in other 
directions the usual parade of gayety went on un- 
interrupted. During these last three weeks func- 
tion had succeeded function, festivity had followed 
upon festivity, until the people, who were usually 
only too ready to feast their eyes from the dis- 
tance upon these brilliant shows, grew sated with 
the incessant display, and witnessed each fresh 
pageant with an increasing sense of sullen bewil- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


85 


derment. They read with amazement of these 
court balls and state concerts, receptions and 
ceremonies which followed one another in such 
rapid succession; and they went, as they always 
did, in their tens and tens of thousands curiously 
to witness the grand military reviews held “by 
command of the Emperor,’^ as the Gazette gravely 
put it, on the great parade ground outside the 
northwestern (quarter of the city. But they felt 
the imposition, notwithstanding, and regarded 
these persistent attacks upon their credulity with 
growing resentment. 

The fiction, they saw, was to be kept up a 
outrance, and the only thought it roused in them 
was as to when and how it would all end. One 
thing they felt sure of: that if the members of 
their royal house affected this show of indiffer- 
ence and unconcern in the face of a calamity 
which threatened the very foundation of the Em- 
pire they did so not of their own free will, but 
under compulsion, though under what sort of 
compulsion they would have been at a loss to 
determine. 

In spite of the smiling countenances of the 
Empress Mother and her daughters, the sisters 
of the reigning Emperor, wherever they appeared 
in public, the Berolingers were quick to perceive 
the lines of anxiety and care with which the sus- 
pense of these last few weeks had furrowed 


86 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


their brows. Rumors, too, of all kinds were in 
circulation respecting the attitude assumed by 
the Imperial family, and more especially by 
Prince Henry, the EmperoPs only brother, 
toward those who advocated the summoning of 
the Arminian sovereigns to Berolingen, osten- 
sibly to devise measures for the government of 
the Empire during the Emperor’s absence. 

The Prince, a sailor, with something of a sail- 
or’s bluffness, was credited with having cate- 
gorically refused to lend his countenance to pro- 
ceedings which the Emperor’s death alone could 
justify. Report even declared that a correspond- 
ence of a very heated character had passed on 
the subject between him and the Regent of Wit- 
telsbach, as the spokesman of the Arminian 
Princes, in which he had announced his intention 
of signifying his disapproval of the contemplated 
action of the Arminian rulers in a marked and 
unmistakable manner. 

Whether this report was correct or not, it is 
certain that, an hour before the arrival in Bero- 
lingen of the Regent of Wittelsbach, Prince 
Henry had left the city and taken up his quarters 
in Carolinenburg, the well-known royal summer 
resort situated not three miles from the capital 
itself. It was scarcely possible to misinterpret 
the meaning of this movement. Though the 
Prince could not prevent the assembly of the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


87 


monarchs in the Arminian metropolis, he was 
at least determined to take no part in their re- 
ception. 

The people had noted this significant circum- 
stance, and they were not slow to approve and 
applaud it. The arrival of the Regent of Wit- 
telsbach had taken them quite unawares, for the 
fact of the royal journey to Berolingen had been 
kept a profound secret. But when, late that 
same evening, the news spread through the city 
that the arrival of the Wittelsbach sovereign had 
been followed within a few hours by that of the 
Kings of Suabia and Neckarstadt, the sense of 
surprise gave way to one of stem displeasure, and 
the railway termini of the capital were beleaguered 
during the next two days by a multitude which 
defied all the endeavors of the police, assisted 
by soldiery, to repress and disperse it. 

Monarch now followed upon monarch, and 
what with the incessant receptions and the driv- 
ing to and fro of innumerable state coaches 
with court and military dignitaries in gala attire 
between the various royal palaces and the rail- 
way stations, the occasion might have passed for 
one of some rare festivity, such as a royal jubilee 
or coronation. 

What the people commented upon, however, 
was not so much the inappropriateness of all this 
outward display of pomp and splendor as the ex- 


88 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR 


traordinary precautions for the maintenance of 
order and decorum in the streets with which it 
was accompanied. The three first arrivals had 
been accomplished with a singular absence of 
ostentation and show. But at the first sign of 
the awakening of the popular curiosity all this 
simplicity vanished and the reception of the 
royal visitors assumed quite a different character. 
Troops now surrounded the stations and lined 
the routes to and from them and the center of the 
town. Military escorts accompanied even the 
petty princes and sovereign dukes who consti- 
tuted what may not inaptly be termed the smaller 
fry of the confederate monarchs, and the police 
swarmed everywhere in such numbers that one 
might have supposed they had been called out to 
quell a disturbance rather than to effect the com- 
paratively simple maneuvre of keeping the roads 
clear for the passage of a few royal visitors. 

Strangely enough, as it chanced, the streets of 
Berolingen had never before been filled with more 
orderly crowds than they were during these two 
days. No attempt was made in any single quar- 
ter to give open vent to the feelings of exaspera- 
tion which pervaded all classes of the community; 
although, as will be seen presently, the occasion 
did not pass without a startlingly significant 
demonstration of quite an opposite description. 
The masses surged in the streets from morning 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


89 


till night, surrounding the stations and thronging 
the open spaces in front of the royal palaces, ap- 
parently intent upon nothing else but to catch 
glimpses of the illustrious personages who passed 
in review, as it were, before them. To all ap- 
pearances it was only the ordinary curiosity of a 
spectacle-loving populace that had enticed them 
from their every-day occupations and brought 
them out to gape and gaze. 

One thing alone distinguished them from an 
ordinary assembly of curious sightseers. This 
was the almost total silence maintained by these 
vast crowds from one end of the city to the other. 
Not a cheer was raised, not a cap lifted, as the 
princely visitors swept past in their gorgeous 
coaches. And yet once — and for one instant 
only — did this air of apparent apathy and indif- 
ference which characterized the loitering crowds 
during those memorable two days vanish com- 
pletely, as if dispelled by some hidden magic, 
making way for an outburst of such demonstrative 
enthusiasm that none who witnessed it can have 
failed to be deeply impressed by it. 

This incident was brought about by the chance 
appearance of her Majesty the Dowagpr Empress 
in the streets of Berolingen. Returning from 
Carolinenburg, whither she had gone to visit her 
son. Prince Henry, her Majesty, accompanied by 
her daughter, the Princess Margaret, happened 


90 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


to enter the Avenue of Limes on her drive back 
to her palace just at the hour when, in conse- 
quence of the expected arrival of the King of 
Wettinia and the Grand Duke of Zahringen, both 
of whom were to take up their quarters in the 
Royal Castle, that great thoroughfare had be- 
come densely packed from end to end with a 
surging mass of spectators. 

At the first glimpse of the Imperial carriage 
and its occupants, as they emerged unexpectedly 
through the colossal Arch of Victory at the fur- 
ther end of the boulevard, a sudden shout of de- 
light went up from the throng collected there 
and rolled in an ever-increasing roar along the 
whole route, being taken up by the countless 
thousands who filled it for considerably over a 
mile. 

A strangely impressive spectacle now followed. 
Those who had hitherto stood for hours and 
hours silent and impassive behind the troops that 
lined the route in single file on both sides now 
pressed forward with so sudden an onrush that 
the lines were instantly broken through in all 
directions. Caps were thrown up, handkerchiefs 
waved, and such a deafening noise of cheers and 
acclamations rent the air that the words of com- 
mand issued to the astonished soldiers by their 
irate officers were completely drowned by it. The 
demonstration was so sudden and unexpected 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR, 91 

that it was impossible to cope with it, and for the 
time the military, the police and the public were 
all mingled in one entangled, struggling mass, 
which closed round the Imperial carriage and 
followed it as it proceeded on its way down the 
grand avenue toward her Majesty^s palace at the 
other end. All that the troops could do was to 
avoid being carried away altogether by the over- 
whelming stream of excited people. To oppose 
it or attempt to stem the impetuous tide and re- 
store order was out of the question. Indeed, 
many of the soldiers, in spite of their being 
mounted, were unable to extricate themselves 
from the rushing crowd until they had been swept 
along for a considerable distance, and the police, 
the greater number of whom were on foot, proved, 
of course, totally powerless to help them. 

The wonder was that the progress of the Im- 
perial carriage itself was not impeded by the 
frantic mob that surrounded it. But the pace at 
which it proceeded scarcely slackened perceptibly 
for one moment, and not a muscle in the familiar 
face of the Empress betrayed the faintest appre- 
hension at the stirring scene about her as she sat 
bowing right and left in proud acknowledgment 
of the wild and frenzied greeting that was offered 
to her. She understood and appreciated its 
meaning only too well. 

Ten minutes later, when the troops had barely 


92 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


recovered their order and had formed once more 
in an unbroken line along the route which had 
just been the scene of this extraordinary demon- 
stration, a detachment of Imperial guards, her- 
alding the approach of the two royal visitors 
whose arrival had been the cause of the vast con- 
gregation of spectators in the avenue, issued 
forth from under the Arch of Victory, followed 
by two four-horsed equipages with outriders, 
containing the august guests and their suites, 
while another detachment of the same troop 
formed the escort in the rear. 

In the opposite direction the sounds of cheer- 
ing and shouting could still be faintly heard from 
the distance, as they were carried across by the 
breeze which blew over the city from the north. 
But they died away almost immediately. 

And now what a contrast as the brilliant pro- 
cession drove slowly along the same route that 
had just before been traversed by that one solitary 
carriage amid a scene such as Imperial Berolingen 
had rarely witnessed ! The moment it came into 
view a hush fell upon the multitude, and in like 
manner as but a few minutes ago a wave of the 
wildest enthusiasm had swept over it, carrying 
all and everything before it, so now a wave of 
cold, stern silence passed over the same crowds. 
It preceded the royal cortege along the whole 
way; nor was the strange, ominous stillness 


THE VANISHED EMPEHOR. 


93 


broken until long after it had vanished from 
sight. 

The Berolingers had given vent to their senti- 
ments plainly, unmistakably, and this one spon- 
taneous outburst apparently contented them for 
the moment. Was it a warning of that spirit of 
resolute determination which, according to those 
best informed, was seething beneath their outer 
surface of gloomy calm? And, if so, would they 
to whom it was addressed take timely heed of it? 

Doubtless the Government of his vanished 
Majesty were only too sensible of the tremendous 
responsibility that was crushing upon them. One 
and twenty sovereign kings and princes of Ar- 
minia were already within the walls of Berolingen 
and four more would arrive in the course of the 
next four and twenty hours, thus completing the 
full number of those whose territories were com- 
prised in the vast Empire they had come to safe- 
guard. The fate of Imperial Arminia was to be 
decided by these five and twenty monarchs. Did 
it occur to any of them that they were perchance 
blindly placing their own fate in the hands of the 
people in whose midst they had elected to as- 
semble? 

There was at least one person in Berolingen 
who was painfully alive to this possibility. That 
person was no one less than the Imperial lady 
whose appearance that day had been the signal 


94 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

for SO remarkable a demonstration on the part of 
the populace of BeroHngen. 

The duties of the chosen ones of the earth 
necessitate the abnegation of self, with its predi- 
lections and interests, in a higher degree than 
those of an ordinary mortal, however onerous 
his position may be. Had her Majesty the Dow- 
ager Empress, or the Empress Fritz, as she was 
more commonly styled, in memory of her late 
lamented husband, been an ordinary mortal, she 
would perhaps have heartily applauded the spirit 
displayed that day by her son’s subjects. She 
would certainly have regarded it with greater 
equanimity than under the circumstances she was 
able to. But alas! the very suspicion of turbu- 
lence on the part of the people, even if it be 
prompted by excess of loyalty, is alarming to 
the occupants of thrones, and the Empress had 
seen enough that day to fill her with somber mis- 
givings on this score in regard to the near future. 
Her own inclination would have led her to with- 
draw from the city, like her son. Prince Henry, or 
at least to shut herself up in the seclusion of her 
palace and plead her sorrow and anxiety, or what 
not, as an excuse for declining to receive the il- 
lustrious sovereigns whose presence in the Im- 
perial capital was a deep chagrin and a source of 
distrust and anger to her. But though she dis- 
approved of the policy that had brought them 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


95 


there, and, indeed, looked upon it with alarm 
and suspicion, etiquette demanded that she should 
conceal her real feelings and extend a royal wel- 
come to these self-invited guests. Nay, not only 
the exigencies of royal custom rendered this 
necessary; the very demeanor of the people, 
which was a secret source of pride to her Majesty, 
made it imperative that she should not appear to 
resent the intrusion of the unwelcome visitors and 
thus encourage the churlish spirit in which they 
had been received. 

Toward evening on the day which had wit- 
nessed the end, or nearly the end, of the influx of 
Arminian Princes into the capital of the Empire, 
her Majesty sat in her private apartment in the 
north wing of the palace, engaged, as was her 
wont when the duties of state permitted, in the 
pursuit of the art in which she found her most 
cherished recreation. 

The room, which was situated on the upper 
floor of the palace, for the sake of the better light 
afforded there, resembled a painter’s studio more 
than the boudoir of a royal lady. Several easels 
with half-finished paintings stood about; lay fig- 
ures, some draped with costly materials, others 
without the accompaniment of cloths or drapery 
and posed in various attitudes, were arranged in 
more or less conspicuous positions in front of 
them, and groups of statuary, busts, canvases, 


96 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


framed ai>d unframed, gems, models and curios — 
in short, works of art of every class and descrip- 
tion — were distributed here and there in pictur- 
esque disorder, giving the whole place an aspect 
of luxurious, but somewhat bohemian, splendor. 

Before one of the easels near the great bow 
window in the center of the apartment sat the 
Empress herself, ostensibly occupied with brush 
and palette in putting the finishing touches to 
the huge canvas which towered before her. I 
say ostensibly, for her Majesty^s attention was 
manifestly divided between the great clock over 
the chimney-piece opposite and the door of the 
room on her left, rather than directed upon the 
work before her. 

Presently one of her gentlemen entered, re- 
ceived a sign from her, bowed, and withdrew. A 
few moments afterward Sir John Templeton was 
ushered in. 

The Empress had risen, and now advanced to 
meet her visitor with an eager, questioning look. 

“You bring good tidings, I trust. Sir John 
Templeton,” she said, in a tone in which hope and 
doubt were equally mingled. 

The old diplomat bowed low over the hand she 
extended to him. 

“I fear I am destined to disappoint your Maj- 
esty,” he said. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


97 


“Ah!” she exclaimed, “do not tell me that you 
already despair of accomplishing your task.” 

“I despair by no means, madam,” he replied. 
“Only it requires time; and whether I shall ac- 
complish it before it is too late to avert the dis- 
aster it is designed to avert, that is a question 
which fills me with grave anxiety. Certain events 
are fast approaching that may be fraught with 
consequences which not even the safe return of 
his Majesty the Emperor will be able to undo.” 

The Empress sighed deeply. 

“Yet you still believe in my son^s ultimate safe 
return?” she asked anxiously. 

“Implicitly.” 

“You have progressed, then? Tell me what 
you have learned. What may we hope?” 

“I must pray of your Majesty to be content for 
the present with the knowledge that I am pro- 
gressing,” Sir John answered. “Had I the cor- 
dial support of those who have summoned me to 
their aid I could promise to accomplish in hours 
what may now occupy days. And every moment 
is precious. Unfortunately I am hampered where 
I ishould be assisted and thwarted where I should 
be encouraged. My advice is disregarded — in- 
deed, I fear it is even received with suspicion; 
and unless your Majesty condescends to become 
my ally — 

“Does it need my assurance to convince you 


98 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


that you may count upon me?” the Empress said. 
‘‘I have neither power nor influence over my 
son’s ministers. But such assistance as I may be 
able to afford you is yours. What can I do?” 

“Two things, madam. Firstly, to use such in- 
fluence as your Majesty possesses to prevail upon 
the Arminian Princes to defer this projected meet- 
ing in full conclave for another few days at least.” 

‘T will use every endeavor,” the Empress said. 
“But I fear it will be difficult.” 

“Doubly difficult, doubtless, as matters now 
stand.” 

“Have fresh troubles, then, arisen?” 

“No fresh troubles, madam. But those we al- 
ready have to cope with have assumed more defi- 
nite proportions. The Franconian question has 
to-day entered into an acute stage. The demand 
for the withdrawal of the troops with which the 
garrisons in the annexed Franconian provinces 
were recently reinforced by command of the Em- 
peror has been pressed with an imperativeness 
that borders on positive insolence. The latest 
communication received from his Excellency the 
Franconian Ambassador is, I understand, virtu- 
ally an ultimatum.” 

“You have seen the Chancellor?” 

“I have this moment left his Excellency in 
conference with their Majesties the Kings of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


99 


Suabia and Wettinia and the Prince Regent of 
Wittelsbach.” 

“And the proposed meeting of the sover- 
eigns — ” 

“Will take place at noon the day after to-mor- 
row, unless your Majesty can prevent it” 

“War threatening us from without and revolu- 
tion from within. What will be the fate of Ar- 
minia?” the Empress murmured. 

“Arminia’s more immediate fate, madam, rest 
assured, depends upon one thing only: the return 
of his Majesty the Emperor before this meeting 
of sovereigns takes place.” 

“And if he returns too late to prevent it?” 

“Then, madam, I fear he will return to find him- 
self the only monarch left in Arminia.” 

“What?” the Empress said. “Do you imagine 
the people would dare to lay violent hands on 
their Princes? Ah, you forget. We have the 
army. Berolingen is garrisoned by fifty thou- 
sand of our finest troops.” 

“The majority of whom are children of Bero- 
lingen, madam — ^the sons of the very people they 
will be called upon to oppose.” 

“True, true,” the Empress murmured. “Yet 
they are loyal to their Emperor. Have I not seen 
the proofs with my own eyes?” 

Sir John Templeton made no response. Per- 
haps he felt no call to point out that a revolution 


100 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

prompted by loyalty may end by destroying the 
very idol it had started to set up. If he had, his- 
tory would no doubt have afforded him more 
than one parallel instance in illustration of the 
fact. 

The Empress remained silent for awhile, 
plunged in her own thoughts. Presently she 
turned to him again and said: 

“You spoke of a second matter in which my 
assistance would be of avail. What is it?” 

“It is this,” he answered. “To-morrow night 
your Majesty gives a state ball in honor of these 
princely visitors. I have come to ask your Maj- 
esty to command the addition of one more name 
to the list of the guests.” 

“That is a simple matter,” the Empress re- 
plied. “Who is it?” 

There was a slight pause before Sir John an- 
swered. 

“It is his Majesty’s private secretary. Doctor 
Georg Hofer,” he said. 

The Empress drew back with a look of dis- 
pleasure. 

“You cannot be serious,” she said, coldly. 

“Your Majesty is mistaken. The occasion 
would indeed be a sorry one for a jest.” 

“You forget that Doctor Hofer has incurred 
the Emperor’s grave displeasure.” 

“Can your Majesty tell me through what se- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 101 

nous offense of his Doctor Hofer has had the 
misfortune to displease the Emperor?” Sir John 
asked, quickly. 

“I have not made it my business to inquire 
into the private affairs of my son^s household,” 
the Empress replied, in a tone which was half 
haughty, half evasive. “But the character of his 
offense matters little. Such a mark of favor as 
you suggest is, under the circumstances, impos- 
sible.” 

“As a mark of your Majesty^s favor, perhaps. 
Yet, if I am correctly informed, there was a time 
when Doctor Hofer would not have required my 
humble intermediation to obtain so slight a favor 
at your Majesty’s hands.” 

“You show a strange interest in this man. Sir 
John Templeton,” the Empress said, giving him a 
look which indicated plainly that this manifesta- 
tion of interest on his part was distasteful to her. 

“I do not deny it, madam,” he rejoined. “It 
is through him alone that I can hope to solve the 
one problem upon which this whole mystery 
turns.” 

“And that is?” 

“Why his Majesty the Emperor has left his 
capital.” 

“You suspect Doctor Hofer of being privy, 
then?” 

“I think not,” Sir John answered. 


102 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


*Then I do not understand you. You are pro- 
pounding a riddle which appears to admit of no 
answer.” 

“It is precisely a riddle we are dealing with, 
madam,” he said, “ and a riddle to which I main- 
tain that Doctor Georg Hofer alone possesses 
the key.” 

“And yet he refrains from using it?” 

“If he knew how to use it, or were even at lib- 
erty to do so, his Majesty the Emperor would be 
now safe in his palace at Berolingen.” 

“Then Doctor Hofer^s captivity, in other words, 
is not the effect, but the cause, of the Emperor^s 
absence?” 

“I believe it to be both, madam.” 

“But if it were indeed the cause,” the Empress 
exclaimed, “the simplest means of securing his 
Majesty^s return would be — ” 

“To set Doctor Hofer at liberty, precisely. It 
is this advice which I have just ventured to ten- 
der to his Majesty^s Government.” 

“And they have rejected it?” 

“Indignantly.” 

The Empress gazed at him for a moment in 
silence. 

“I do not profess to understand the reasons that 
prompted you in offering such advice,” she said 
at length. “But since Doctor Hofer, as you 


THE VANISHED EMPEROH. 


103 


know, is strongly suspected of having instigated 
the rebellion in Noveria — ” 

“Your Majesty cannot but applaud the decision 
of the Government,” Sir John said. “May I ask, 
madam, if you share these suspicions against 
Doctor Hofer?” 

The Empress made a little movement of im- 
patience. 

“I know no longer what suspicions I share 
and what I do not share,” she replied, almost des- 
perately. “It is all dark and entangled. If his 
Majesty were at liberty to return, what greater 
inducement could he possess for doing so than 
the knowledge of the terrible position in which 
the Empire is now placed?” 

“It is, indeed, impossible to conceive of any 
stronger inducement,” Sir John assented, gravely. 

“Is not this a proof, then, that he is not at lib- 
erty to return?” 

“Might it not also be a proof that he lacks the 
knowledge your Majesty has just mentioned?” 
Sir John asked. 

“Is that likely?” 

“It is more than likely; it is certain, madam.” 

“Certain, you mean, always assuming that the 
Emperor is really free to return?” 

“Not necessarily. His Majesty may be de- 
tained by those whose power to hold him will 


104 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR^ 


vanish with the first breath of that knowledge 
which he so sorely needs.” 

‘'And that breath, you think,” the Empress 
said, after a moments reflection, “would reach 
him through Doctor Hofer?” 

“As surely, madam, as I believe it would have 
reached him long ago through the public press of 
the country, had the latter not been enjoined to 
maintain strict silence on the subject of his Maj- 
esty's absence.” 

“You persist, I see, in believing that the Em- 
peror’s absence is voluntary.” 

“That it was originally so — yes.” 

“Yet this sudden resolve to leave his capital — ” 

“Sudden, madam? It was far from sudden.” 

“How so?” the Empress said, startled by his 
tone. 

“I mean that it was long premeditated.” 

“What leads you to this conclusion?” 

“The fact that his Majesty had already fixed the 
exact date for his departure three full months 
ago,” Sir John said. 

“Three months ago?” the Empress cried. “And 
you profess to know this?” 

“Nay, more, madam,” Sir John said; “I think 
I can designate not only the day, but the very 
hour when his Majesty fixed that date.” 

The Empress regarded him with a look of in- 
credulous surprise. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


106 


‘‘And when was that?’^ she asked slowly. 

“It was the moment when his Majesty issued 
his commands to the naval authorities to com- 
mence preparations for the intended Imperial 
voyage to the East.” 

The Empress reflected an instant. 

“It is true,” she murmured; “the Emperor dis- 
appeared on the very eve of this contemplated 
voyage.” 

“When, therefore, the most elaborate measures 
had been devised for the carrying on of the Gov- 
ernment during his Majesty^s sojourn upon the 
high seas,” Sir John remarked. 

“Then you maintain,” the Empress said, “that 
these extensive preparations were merely ef- 
fected — ” 

“To enable his Majesty to leave his capital se- 
cretly without any inconvenience arising to the 
Empire from the prolonged absence of its sov- 
ereign head; I have no doubt about it, madam.” 

The Empress was visibly impressed. 

“But if this conclusion should be correct,” she 
exclaimed with sudden animation, “and, indeed, 
it sounds wonderfully plausible, it would surely 
afford proof positive that his Majesty’s absence 
is unconnected with the rebellious uprising in 
Noveria.” 

“Your Majesty has touched the core of the 
matter,” Sir John said. “The Emperor’s plans, 


r 


106 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

whatever they were, had been conceived and 
carefully matured long before the rebellion in 
Noveria was thought of. It is of this fact that I 
have vainly endeavored to convince the Imperial 
Government.” 

For some moments her Majesty stood with an 
air of indecision, wavering, apparently, between 
two conflicting resolutions. 

'Tell me,” she said at last, abruptly, "for what 
purpose do you desire Doctor Hofer’s presence 
at the court ball?” 

“Does your Majesty insist upon an answer to 
that question?” 

“Not if you have reasons for withholding it. 
Nay, I am willing to grant this strange request. 
Sir John Templeton,” she went on more warmly, 
“on one condition : that you pledge me your word 
that this is not a stratagem to enable Doctor 
Hofer to escape from his custodians. The Em- 
peror’s commands are law, and I will not be a 
party to their contravention.” 

“Your Majesty,” Sir John Templeton said, 
gravely, “will please to accept my solemn assur- 
ance that nothing is further from my thoughts 
than to connive at so heinous an offense. I will 
answer for Doctor Hofer’s safety with my own 
person.” 

Twilight had set in during the progress of this 
conversation, and the dusk was now increasing 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


107 


apace, enveloping the vast chamber, with its cu- 
rious assortment of statues and easels, its costly 
draperies and many-colored stuffs, interspersed 
here and there with painting paraphernalia of 
every kind and description, in an indistinct haze, 
which lent it an almost weird appearance. From 
outside came the distant muffled hum of the traffic 
in the great city, now broken for an instant by a 
few short, sharp cries of command and a monoto- 
nous military tramp of feet in the street immedi- 
ately below the windows of the studio, where the 
sentinels stationed before the portals of the Im- 
perial palace were being relieved. These sounds 
died away quickly and left the stillness, or rather 
the semi-stillness, more impressive than before. 

The Empress had quitted Sir John Templeton 
and approached a magnificent bureau standing in 
an embrasure between the two great middle bow 
windows, a masterpiece of the designer’s art, exe- 
cuted most elaborately in ebony inlaid with silver. 
The workmanship of this exquisite piece of fur- 
niture, which was a memento of the visit of her 
Majesty’s late husband to the Holy Land and 
Persia, was the most perfect thing imaginable, 
and its value was priceless. 

Drawing from one of its recesses a letter 
fringed with a thin black border and bearing on 
the top of its front page the familiar initials “V. 
R.” she stood for a moment perusing it in silence. 


108 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

At last she turned again to Sir John Templeton. 

“The Queen is anxiously awaiting some hope- 
ful tidings,” she said. “What may I tell her, 
Sir John Templeton? The messenger goes back 
to-night. Can I give her some assurance that 
will confirm her confidence in your power to un- 
ravel this mystery? Stay,” she added, “you shall 
judge for yourself of the trust she reposes in you. 
‘That you now have the advice of Sir John Tem- 
pleton,’ her Majesty writes, ‘is a great solace to 
my heart, which bleeds sorely for you in your dire 
trouble and sorrow. You may trust it implicitly. 
I have experienced its sterling value.’” 

A flush of pleasure mounted to the old diploma- 
tist’s face and his expressive gray eyes lighted up 
with a quick brightness. 

“I would wish her Majesty to know,” he said, 
with a profound bow, and speaking in a soft, vi- 
brating tone, which reflected the emotion that 
had been stirred within him, “that I seek no 
higher ambition than that of justifying the trust 
her Majesty so graciously places in me.” He 
paused for an instant, and then, as if inspired 
by a sudden impulse, he added: “Madam, will 
you convey to her Majesty my assurance that, if 
I fail in this, I shall consider it the disaster of my 
life ; and by heaven,” he exclaimed, with unusual 
animation, “unless that has been done which no 
mortal hand can undo I shall not fail.” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


109 


The Empress replaced the letter silently in the 
drawer of the bureau from which she had taken it. 
Then she extended her hand to him with a grate- 
ful smile. 

“I believe you, Sir John,” she said, simply. 
“May heaven, then, prosper your work.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

PRINCESS MARGARET OF BRANDENBURG. 

On leaving the Empress’ studio Sir John Tem- 
pleton was received in the ante-chamber through 
which he passed by her Majesty’s personal attend- 
ant, a stalwart lackey in the Imperial livery, and 
conducted to the head of the grand staircase onto 
which this apartment gave. Here he was again 
met by another lackey, who bowed automatically 
as he approached, and, receiving him, as it were, 
formally from the first one’s hands, preceded him 
silently, with grave, ceremonious steps, down the 
first flight of stairs to the floor below, where a 
whole array of similar automata were stationed at 
regular intervals, like gorgeous signposts in hu- 
man shape, apparently to guide the hapless wan- 
derer who chanced to go astray in the maze of 
corridors and passages that gaped here invit- 
ingly at him on all sides. 


no THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

With a stately gesture the nearest of these 
statuesque beings motioned the visitor in the di- 
rection he was to take, and which, had he followed 
it, would have led him to the central staircase that 
descended from this first floor of the palace to 
the entrance hall below, whence under ordinary 
circumstances those who had passed through the 
ordeal of an Imperial reception were not a little 
relieved to make their speedy escape into the 
easier atmosphere of the every-day world without. 

But Sir John Templeton seemed in no wise 
pressed for time, and stood at the foot of the 
stairs gazing furtively around, as if in search of 
something or someone whom he expected to 
meet here. Nor was he deceived in such expec- 
tations; for just as the statuesque gentleman 
aforementioned, who had observed his tendency 
to loiter in the precincts of the Imperial apart- 
ments, with an air of dignified disapprobation, 
advanced toward him with the obvious intention 
of “moving him on,’^ if so mean a term is appli- 
cable to so exalted a personage, an officer in the 
uniform of the Imperial Guard, emerging appar- 
ently from nowhere in particular, stepped sud- 
denly onto the scene, and quickly approaching 
the old diplomatist, saluted him in stiff, military 
fashion. 

The statuesque gentleman and his associates 


THE VANISHED EMPEHOR. 


Ill 


drew back at once and resumed their former at- 
titude. 

“Sir John Templeton, I believe?” said the of- 
ficer. 

Sir John bowed acquiescently. 

“You have received her Imperial Highness’ 
commands, I presume?” the officer asked. 

Sir John bowed once more, this time with the 
shadow of a smile. 

“I have received a note from her Imperial 
Highness informing me of her wish to speak 
with me,” he said. 

“Then have the goodness to follow me,” the 
officer rejoined, curtly. And raising his hand 
once more by way of salute, he wheeled round 
without anything further and passed on in a di- 
rection leading apparently to the left wing of the 
palace. Sir John Templeton followed in silence. 

Those who know Arminia and the military 
spirit which pervades all classes of its people, 
more especially in Brandenburg, will not, I trust, 
commit the fatal mistake of supposing that this 
Imperial guardsman intended any rudeness by 
his abrupt and unceremonious manner. Far from 
it. He was performing a duty, and the very es- 
sence of such performance, according to Ar- 
minian ideas, consists in its being unaccompanied 
by any unnecessary word or phrase which might 
indicate what I will call a sense of the personal 


112 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


identity of the performer. Military rank in this 
vast Empire, with its standing army of over half 
a million disciplined soldiers, governs society 
from the highest grade down to the very lowest, 
and the degree of deference accorded by the 
wearer of one uniform to the wearer of another — 
and who does not wear uniform in Arminia? — is 
determined simply and solely by the number of 
stars on their respective epaulettes, or whatever 
other outward sign of their military position the 
wearers may possess. Sir John Templeton being, 
as I need hardly say, pre-eminently of the civilian 
order, wore, of course, no uniform at all, and he 
was consequently as complete a nonentity from 
the military point of view as it is possible for a 
breathing human being to be. Indeed, had the 
most distinguished and illustrious man of the 
century, for whom possibly our guardsman in 
his uniformed human character would have felt 
the deepest personal veneration, been in the old 
diplomatists place without some such distinctive 
badge of the only recognized rank in the country, 
his mode of reception would doubtless have been 
the same. 

This, I beg the reader to believe, is no exagge- 
ration. It is a fact that, at the recent opening of 
the new houses of Parliament in Berolingen, the 
venerable President of the Arminian Legislative 
Assembly, one of the most eminent men in the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


113 


country, and, for the nonce at least, one would 
have supposed, second in importance only to his 
Majesty the Emperor himself, was actually rele- 
gated at the great opening ceremony to a back 
seat among the crowd of beardless lieutenants 
and subalterns, where he languished in obscurity 
throughout the whole proceedings for no other 
reason than because he happened, in his military 
capacity, to have attained no higher degree than 
they. 

This curious incident was, it will be remem- 
bered, much commented upon at the time in the 
foreign press; and in Arminian official circles, 
too, considerable indignation was called forth by 
the absurd fact — not, I mean, that the illustrious 
President of the Parliament should have been 
only a sub-lieutenant in the Imperial army, but 
that a mere sub-lieutenant in the Imperial army 
should have been elected President of the Par- 
liament. 

But I have digressed. 

The particular portion of the palace to which 
Sir John Templeton was now conducted was 
situated at no great distance from the spot where 
his guide had met him; nor would the way 
thither have been difficult to find had he been 
left to seek it for himself. It was, in fact, merely 
a long, straight passage, with no outlet on the 
other side, leading to a suite of apartments to 


114 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


which access was gained by a pair of large folding 
doors at the end. Passing through these at the 
heels of his military conductor, Sir John Tem- 
pleton found himself in a kind of inner vestibule 
with doors on every side. Approaching one of 
these doors, the officer motioned him to enter, 
saluted once more in the same stiff fashion as 
before and retired without another word. 

The apartment, an octagonal chamber of or- 
dinary dimensions, was lighted by two shaded 
lamps, one a standard placed almost in the center 
of the room, in close vicinity to a reading desk of 
carved rosewood, the design of which displayed 
the letter “M” in every possible shape and form, 
the other an ordinary table lamp, fitted in a re- 
ceptacle of chased silver and standing upon a 
side table near a curtained door on the opposite 
side. The appointments of the room were rich 
and dainty, and the surroundings generally could 
scarcely have been more different from those Sir 
John Templeton had just quitted. There was no 
sign here of that artistic disorder which charac- 
terized the Empress’ favorite haunt. This room 
was a lady’s boudoir in the fullest and most par- 
ticular sense of the term. 

When Sir John Templeton entered it was 
empty. But he had barely had leisure to glance 
curiously around him when the curtained door at 
the further end was opened, and a slim, girlish 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


115 


figure stepped into the room. She hesitated for 
a moment upon the threshold and fixed a look, 
half proudly curious, half timidly apprehensive, 
upon her visitor. Then, as if suddenly shaking 
off her passing fit of timidity, she closed the door 
behind her and advanced with a quick, resolute 
movement into the middle of the room. 

‘T have to thank you. Sir John Templeton, for 
complying so readily with my wish to see you,” 
she said, speaking with a rich, musical voice, and 
in the purest English. 

“I shall consider myself fortunate if I am able 
to be of service to your Imperial Highness,” Sir 
John answered. 

There was a ring of something more than pure 
formality in the tone of the words. And, indeed, 
they would have been no mere figure of speech in 
.the mouth of any man possessed of some sense 
for feminine grace and beauty. 

Princess Margaret of Brandenburg, the sec- 
ond youngest daughter of the Arminian Empress, 
showed her English origin, like all her sisters, in 
her appearance as well as in her speech. She 
was, in fact, the very type of that rare English 
beauty which perhaps none are quicker to per- 
ceive and readier to admire than foreigners. Her 
Guelph descent through her mother was traceable 
in every line of her face; yet there were certain 
features in it, more notably perhaps the slightly 


116 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

pursed lip and the determined curve of the chin, 
which stamped her just as unmistakably as of 
the house of Brandenburg. It was in these lat- 
ter characteristics that her resemblance to her 
brother, the Emperor, was most marked. They 
gave her, as they did him, that air of haughtiness 
and stubborn resolve which is the distinctive fea- 
ture of that whole illustrious race. And yet it 
was rather the quality of self-reliance than 
pride, rather perhaps that of willfulness than ob- 
stinacy, which they really betokened; and in the 
Princess they were wonderfully softened by the 
feminine charm of her whole countenance, culmi- 
nating, as it occasionally did, in the bewitching 
smile that proclaimed her, more than anything 
else, the true daughter of her mother. 

There are some people who smile with their 
lips only; there are others the essence of whose 
smile lies in their eyes. The Princess Margaret 
belonged to the latter class, and though she smiled 
rarely — more particularly at the period we speak 
of — the memory of one smile from those large 
expressive brown eyes of hers dwelt long and 
sweetly enough with him upon whom it happened 
to be bestowed to make him forget the length of 
the interval that ensued between it and its suc- 
cessor. 

‘‘You can render me a very great service. Sir 
John Templeton,” she said, sinking upon a large 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


117 


divan in the center of the room, flanked on either 
side by a group of taper-leaved palms, and invit- 
ing him with a graceful gesture to a seat near her. 
“Need I tell you what has caused me to ask you 
for this interview?” 

“I think not. Princess,” Sir John answered. 
“There is but one thought dominating every mind 
in the country at this moment, and I scarcely 
need your Imperial Highness’ assurance that it 
is uppermost in yours : the anxiety concerning the 
fate of his Majesty the Emperor.” 

“I would give my life to bring him back,” the 
Princess exclaimed, clasping her hands in front 
of her with a sudden passionate gesture. “Can 
nothing be done, nothing to solve this dreadful 
mystery? Whatever it is, if my help can avail, 
it is yours unasked.” 

There was something despairing and yet sug- 
gestive in her tone and in the action that accom- 
panied it which struck Sir John Templeton 
strangely. 

“Princess,” he said, bending slightly forward 
toward her, and gazing full into her eyes, as if he 
expected to read in them the answer to what he 
was about to say, “permit me to ask you one ques- 
tion: Did the Emperor part from you in anger?” 

She returned his look with one of surprise. 

“No, no,” she said. “You mistake me. It is 


118 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


not that. He was tenderness itself toward me. 
Ah, only too tender.” 

She added the last words as if on an after- 
thought, fondly, regretfully. 

“His Majesty never gave you the slightest rea- 
son for supposing,” Sir John asked, “that it was 
his intention to absent himself from his capital, or 
to embark upon any undertaking involving peril 
to his own person?” 

“None whatever,” the Princess replied. “My 
brothers last words to me — I remember them 
only too well — ^were these : ‘When we meet 
again, sissy, I shall have news for you worth more 
than a kiss. So hold yourself prepared to pay 
special tribute.’ ” 

“Your Imperial Highness of course knew to 
what his Majesty was referring,” Sir John ob- 
served. 

“Not, surely,” the Princess exclaimed, with a 
start, “to anything connected with his strange 
absence?” 

Sir John Templeton did not answer at once. 
Apparently a train of thought had been started 
in him which for the moment absorbed his atten- 
tion. Presently he turned to her with a quick 
impulse. 

“Am I right. Princess,” he said, with an abrupt- 
ness that was softened by his tone of respectful 
sympathy, “in assuming that you have sent for 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


119 


me because you think you possess some knowl- 
edge which may throw light upon the cause of his 
Majesty^s absence?” 

“I have sent for you, Sir John Templeton,” the 
Princess replied, studying his face with a curi- 
ously scrutinizing gaze, “because I have heard 
you spoken of as one whose advice is to be trust- 
ed, and because I know that my mother places all 
her hopes in your ability to fathom this terrible 
mystery.” 

“And do you share her Majesty^s confidence?” 
he asked. 

“I hope to share it,” she replied. 

“Then I may speak without reserve. Princess,” 
he continued, “without fear of giving offense, 
even if I should venture to trespass upon a subject 
which may be painful and distressing to your Im- 
perial Highness?” 

The Princess turned just a shade paler, and her 
slender fingers toyed nervously with the leaves of 
a palm that curved invitingly toward her. 

“What subject could be more painful and dis- 
tressing than the one we are discussing?” she 
said, in a low voice. “You may speak freely. I 
desire it.” 

Sir John Templeton bowed gravely. 

“You occupied, I believe, a place very near his 
Majesty’s heart,” he said, “and he confided in 


120 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

you more fully than in any other member of his 
family. Is it not so, Princess?” 

^‘Possibly,” she replied. “I can scarcely say. 
My brother loved me and placed great trust in my 
affection. But he was never inclined to be lavish 
with his confidence, even toward those whom he 
loved.” 

Sir John paused for the space of an instant be- 
fore he continued. 

“Did he ever confide to your Highness the 
cause of the sudden distrust which he conceived 
toward his private secretary, Doctor Georg 
Hofer?” 

The question was evidently not an unexpected 
one. Yet, save for an almost imperceptible 
tremor of the Princess’ lips, which betrayed her 
emotion, there was nothing in her manner of re- 
ceiving it to denote that it affected her more than 
any ordinary question would have done. 

“He did not,” she answered, simply. “But 
perhaps — ” 

She hesitated now, and a slight flush mounted 
to her cheeks. 

“Perhaps?” Sir John asked. 

“Perhaps it required no explanation on his 
part to enable me to guess the true cause,” she 
said. “But why do you ask this?” she contin- 
ued, with a sudden return to her former agitated 
manner. “You do not suppose that any possible 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


121 


connection can exist between my brother’s rela- 
tions with this man and his unaccountable disap- 
pearance?” 

“Would it be so extraordinary,” Sir John an- 
swered, “if I supposed what your Imperial High- 
ness yourself firmly believes?” 

“Ah, if I believed it,” she exclaimed, half rising, 
and with a quick flash of anger in her eyes. “But 
can I, dare I, believe it?” 

“Princess,” Sir John said, impressively, “there 
is indeed but one road to the knowledge we are 
seeking, and he who would find it must first 
possess himself of the secret which Doctor Georg 
Hofer alone holds: the cause of his quarrel with 
his Imperial master.” 

The Princess gazed at him with a steady, 
searching look. 

“You are absolutely convinced of this?” she 
asked. 

“Absolutely.” 

“Have you seen Doctor Hofer?” 

“I have both seen and spoken with him.” 

“And you believe him capable of betraying one 
who trusted and confided in him?” 

There was a touch almost of angry menace in 
the tone in which she asked this question which 
perhaps escaped Sir John’s notice. At any rate 
he took no apparent heed of it, but answered 
unmoved: 


122 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“I am as ignorant, Princess, of the part played 
by Doctor Hofer at the Imperial Court, and the 
purpose which brought him here, as I am of the 
cause of the sudden difference which has arisen 
between him and the Emperor. One thing only 
I know — as certainly as I know of my own ex- 
istence. It is that the discovery of the real pur- 
pose pursued by Doctor Georg Hofer at the 
Court of Berolingen, not only was the cause of 
the Emperor’s altered attitude toward his pri- 
vate secretary, but it is also the cause of his Ma- 
jesty’s absence.” 

Again the troubled look crept into the Prin- 
cess’ face, and she sat for awhile in silence, ap- 
parently weighing what she had heard. 

“Tell me. Sir John Templeton,” she said pres- 
ently, in a low, anxious voice, “do you believe 
the Emperor’s life is in danger?” 

“No one can say to what danger his Majesty 
may be exposed,” he replied. 

The Princess rose once more, with the same 
abrupt lapse into passion as before. 

“If his life should be endangered,” she ex- 
claimed, “if one hair of his head should have been 
injured to further the plans of any mortal man, 
whoever it may be, he shall know at least that a 
sister’s curse rests upon him; ay, he shall learn 
that a woman may possess the courage to avenge 
her own blood, and will avenge it, even if ” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


123 


“Even if she should tear out her own heart in 
doing so, Princess,” Sir John said, in an earnest 
tone. 

“Even if she tear out her own heart in doing 
so,” the girl echoed, returning his gaze proudly, 
yet speaking scarcely above a murmur. “You 
have said it. Now go and tell Doctor Georg 
Hofer what you have heard, and whose were the 
lips that uttered it.” 

Sir John’s eyes rested upon her with a regard 
of undisguised admiration, as she stood before 
him, her figure proudly erect, so youthful, yet so 
queenly, so sternly resolute, yet so impetuous 
and passionate. He, too, had risen to his feet 
when she rose. 

“Were it not better. Princess,” he said delib- 
erately, “that Doctor Hofer should learn all this 
from your Imperial Highness’ own lips?” 

“From my lips?” she asked, with a startled ex- 
pression. “What opportunity will be vouchsafed 
me of speaking my mind to Doctor Hofer?” 

“The opportunity is near at hand,” Sir John 
replied. “The question is whether your Imperial 
Highness will deign to avail yourself of it. Doc- 
tor Georg Hofer will be present at the court ball 
to-morrow night.” 

“Ah,” the Princess exclaimed, with an involun- 
tary impulse of joy, “then he is free again?” 

Sir John Templeton shook his head. 


124 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“He is not free, Princess,” he said. “At least, 
he is no more free than he has been for the last 
four months.” 

“For the last four months?” the Princess re- 
peated in a puzzled tone. “Do you mean that he 
was already a prisoner before the Emperor left 
us?” 

“To all intents and purposes, yes,” Sir John 
replied. “Doctor Hofer has not been at liberty 
to quit the capital since the day on which he had 
the misfortune to forfeit his Majesty’s confidence.” 

The Princess made a movement of annoyance. 

“You are trifling with me. Sir John Temple- 
ton,” she said coldly. “Why this pretended ig- 
norance of the origin of my brother’s displeas- 
ure? You know it as well as I do?” 

“If I knew it as well as you do. Princess,” Sir 
John rejoined dryly, “I should be ignorant in- 
deed; for your Imperial Highness, of this I am 
at least sure, is gravely mistaken.” 

The Princess flushed and drew back. 

“Yet you tell me that Doctor Hofer has been 
virtually a captive in my brother’s palace for the 
last four months?” she said. 

“Since his Majesty learned the nature of his 
secretary’s correspondence with his Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Cumbermere, yes.” 

“That correspondence, then, has fallen into 
the Emperor’s hands?” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


125 


“It was first brought to his Majesty’s notice 
by Baron von Ellerman, the minister of police, 
since when no letter has been received or dis- 
patched by Doctor Georg Hofer without his Ma- 
jesty being supplied with a copy.” 

“You have read these letters?” 

“With the greatest care.” 

“And their contents are of a treasonable na- 
ture?” the Princess pursued with blanched lips. 

“Their contents are such as to prove of the 
very deepest interest to his Majesty the Emperor,” 
Sir John replied. 

“In view of the questions pending between him 
and the Duke of Cumbermere?” 

“In view of the questions pending between his 
Majesty and the Duke of Cumbermere,” Sir John 
affirmed. 

There was a short pause. 

“You know more than you profess to know. 
Sir John Templeton,” the Princess said, darting 
a quick look of suspicion at him. 

“I know more than I dare confide even to your 
Imperial Highness,” he answered. “But un- 
fortunately, it does not tell me where his Majesty 
is, nor why he has left this capital.” 

She turned away from him with a petulant ges- 
ture, and stood for a few instants wrapped in 
thought. 


126 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“I will see Dr. Hofer,” she said at last, with 
a sudden resolution. 

Sir John bowed. 

*‘May I inform him of your Highness' inten- 
tion?” he asked. 

“It is unnecessary,” she replied. 

“Yet,” he persisted, “it might be prudent, Prin- 
cess, under the circumstances ” 

“It is unnecessary,” she repeated, peremptor- 
ily. “I will see Doctor Hofer during the ball to- 
morrow night. Where and how are questions 
that need trouble neither you nor him.” 

“I am satisfied, of course, to leave the matter 
entirely in your Highness' hands,” Sir John said. 
“Only I would venture to point out that there will 
be many eyes watching the movements of Doctor 
Hofer to-morrow night.” 

“You mean that he will be guarded?” 

“Under the circumstances no doubt with re- 
doubled vigilance.” 

“If he comes at all,” the Princess said, haught- 
ily, “I presume it will be as the Empress' guest, 
not as a state prisoner. In any case, provided he 
does come, I shall not fail to gain speech with 
him. With what result,” she added, “you will 
learn in due time.” 

The tone of the last words meant that Sir John 
Templeton's audience was at an end, and bowing 
profoundly he withdrew. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


127 


There was that in the Princess’ manner towards 
him that told plainly of some inner struggle which 
was tearing her heart; a struggle between doubt 
and belief, trust and mistrust, resentment and 
love. She had received her visitor as a friend, 
claiming his support and asking his advice. She 
dismissed him more like a foe whom she sus- 
pected than an ally in whom she confided. 

Sir John Templeton felt all this, and pondered 
over it as he went. But the smile it evoked from 
him was one of intelligent sympathy rather than 
disappointment or perplexity. 

Outside in the vestibule he was received once 
more by the officer who had conducted him 
hither, and who approached him now with an 
expression of mingled curiosity and respect. Sa- 
luting him again in the usual stereotyped fashion, 
he placed two letters in his hand. 

“For you,” he said, in his curt, military tone. 
“The matters are urgent, I believe.” 

Sir John Templeton glanced at the letters. One 
was sealed with the official seal of the chancellor 
of the Empire, and bore above the address the 
superscription: “On Business of the State. Ur- 
gent.” The other bore the seal of the British 
embassy, surmounted by the Royal Arms of Eng- 
land. Opening the latter first, to the evident sur- 
prise of the Imperial guardsman. Sir John rap- 
idly perused the few words it contained. They 


128 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

were written by her Majesty’s ambassador, Sir 
Edward Hammer, and ran as follows: 

“Private advice from London. The Duke of Cum- 
bermere reached Noveria safely yesterday afternoon, 
and has placed himself at the head of the rebel troops. 
The news is official.” 

Sir John Templeton crushed the note in his 
hand with a peculiar smile, and proceeded to open 
the second one. 

It merely contained a tersely worded request 
that Sir John Templeton would repair with con- 
venient dispatch to the Ministry for For- 
eign Affairs, where a communication of im- 
portance awaited him. The document was 
signed: “Von Capricius, Chancellor of the Em- 
pire.” 

Sir John read it without betraying any sur- 
prise, thanked the officer, and quickly made his 
way out of the palace. 

It was nearly half past nine when he found 
himself once more in the street. Here a fresh 
change had come over the aspect of things gen- 
erally; for, instead of the quiet which usually 
reigned at this end of the great boulevard, there 
were now signs of some considerable commotion 
noticeable. Excited groups were clustered round 
lamp posts and other rallying points, reading 
evening papers or eagerly discussing some ab- 


THE VANISHEDf EMPEROR. 


129 


sorbing piece of intelligence. A constant stream 
of foot passengers was hurrying westward to- 
wards the opposite end of the avenue, where, in 
the distance, Sir John, as he stood for an instant 
upon the slightly elevated ground outside the 
Empress’ palace, could distinguish at a glance 
that a vast concourse of people had gathered. 
The gestures of those in his more immediate 
neighborhood indicated the existence of some 
strong excitement. But it was evidently a pleas- 
ant excitement. 

Accosting a passer-by. Sir John asked the rea- 
son of the unusual stir. The man, whose appear- 
ance bespoke him to belong to the class of su- 
perior tradesmen, regarded his interlocutor with 
some surprise. 

“Eh, eh,” he cried, “haven’t you heard the 
news? Prince Ottomarck has arrived in Bero- 
lingen, and has taken up his quarters at the Ho- 
tel Victoria, just off Willibald street. I fear 
there’ll be no getting near the place to catch a 
glimpse of him.” 

He saw the impression his tidings produced, 
and added with a gleeful laugh: 

“Eh, my friend, that’s a piece of news for you? 
We shall have a man at the helm at last.” 

And he hurried on to join the crowd flocking 
in the direction of Willibald street. 

Prince Ottomarck in Berolingen? It was news 


13a 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


indeed. The great ex-chancellor, who had never 
set foot in the Imperial capital since the famous 
rupture which had caused him to quit the ser- 
vice of his autocratic young sovereign, was once 
more returned to the scene of his glorious past. 
The people, it was evident, greeted the event as 
if it signalized the end of all anxiety and sus- 
pense. To them, for the moment, such was the 
confidence they reposed in their great statesman, 
it meant that all immediate danger was over. 

Sir John Templeton knew that it meant some- 
thing altogether different. Indeed, had any 
doubt still existed in his mind as to the serious- 
ness of the crisis in which Arminia was now in- 
volved, nothing could have more effectually dis- 
pelled it than this one unlooked for event: the 
return of Prince Ottomarck to Berolingen. 


CHAPTER VII. 

A MIDNIGHT CONFERENCE. 

Until far past midnight the famous Willibald 
street, the Downing street, only on a somewhat 
larger scale, of Imperial Berolingen, was packed 
throughout its entire length by a jubilant multi- 
tude. 

Prince Ottomarck, an hour after his arrival in 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


131 


the capital, had driven straight to the Ministry 
for Foreign Affairs, where he remained for some 
while in close conference with the Imperial Chan- 
cellor, the President of the Council, and several 
of the greater Arminian sovereigns now in 
Berolingen, who had hurried posthaste to join 
in the conference upon receipt of the news of his 
Highness’ arrival. 

These latter had stayed, some a quarter of an 
hour, others somewhat longer, and had then 
driven away again — as the imaginative populace 
who observed them thought — with chagrin and 
disappointment writ large on their countenances ; 
a circumstance which was hailed as a proof that 
the Iron Chancellor had promptly sent them 
about their business, as, figuratively speaking, he 
had so often done in the good old days of his 
greatness and glory. 

But alas for the highly strung sentiments of 
loyal Berolingen. Their hero was a hero indeed. 
But in this instance they credited him with 
achievements that were beyond even his powers. 
He had come to Berolingen at the urgent desire 
of the King of Wettinia, his unfailing friend and 
admirer, and, though cordially welcomed by the 
Arminian ministers, who had joined in the invi- 
tation of the King, he was there to advise only, 
not to dictate. None knew this better than the 
great statesman himself. 


132 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

Twice during the progress of the conference, 
the ex-Chancellor had appeared on the balcony 
of the room in which it was being held, in re- 
sponse to the vociferous call of the crowds out- 
side. But he had merely bowed a silent ac- 
knowledgment of the homage paid to him and 
withdrawn again at once. What was passing in- 
side that room remained a secret to the expectant 
people without; nor, indeed, had they known it, 
would it have left them any wiser than they were 
before. All they cared to learn was what had 
become of their Emperor, and, if the truth must 
be told, this was a matter which at that moment 
had almost ceased to occupy the minds of those 
in whose deliberations they were so deeply in- 
terested. The ministers had the immediate situa- 
tion to grapple with, and to do it effectually it 
was imperative that they should accept the fact 
of their sovereign’s absence as definite and un- 
alterable. This, at least, was the view of the Im- 
perial Chancellor, and recent events had tended 
to strengthen it. 

Count Capricius was a military commander of 
some eminence. He had also given proof of 
considerable administrative powers. Yet, when 
all was said and done, he was a soldier still, not 
a statesman. And what chafed him most in his 
present difficult position was the enforced inac- 
tivity to which he saw himself condemned. No- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


133 


veria was in revolt, and he dared take no meas- 
ures to quell it. Franconia was advancing the 
most insolent demands, and he was compelled to 
submit patiently to their discussion until such 
time as he would be in a position to sternly repel 
them. His sovereign’s absence crippled him 
everywhere. In whatever direction he looked, he 
dared take no decisive step for fear»of the con- 
sequences that might ensue to the Emperor, of 
whose whereabouts no one knew anything. 

Amid all these difficulties his one hope was 
concentrated upon the meeting of the Arminian 
princes. He had hailed the plan with eager ap- 
proval, and had so far carried it through in the 
teeth of all opposition, even that of the Imperial 
family itself, confident as he was that by this 
means alone the Empire could be saved. 

And was he now to be checked by the threats 
of an unreasonable Berolingen mob? Was he 
to delay what he believed to be of paramount 
urgency to suit the fads of some foreign med- 
dler, whose ignorance of matters military — an al- 
most convertible term in the Chancellor’s opin- 
ion with “matters Arminian”— was simply ap- 
palling? Sir John Templeton, whose services he 
had never desired, who had been forced down 
his throat, as it were, by the combined insistence 
of so many illustrious personages whom he could 
not afford to displease, treated the most burning 


134 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


question of the hour, the offensive attitude of 
Arminia’s hereditary foe Franconia, as if it were 
a mere trifle, to be disposed of offhand whenever 
a convenient opportunity might offer, Noverian 
affairs scarcely awakened this man’s interest; in 
fact, beyond making one or two absurd proposi- 
tions, and raising up bugbears in which his Ex- 
cellency had no belief, he had scarcely acquainted 
himself with any of the true difficulties of the sit- 
uation, but had gone his own way, consulting no 
one, and keeping his ideas and plans, if indeed, 
he had any, strictly to himself. 

All this was a sore grievance with the Imperial 
Chancellor, and it formed the burden of his elo- 
quence when he found himself alone with Prince 
Ottomarck after the departure of the Royalties 
who had come to assist at their conference. He 
had never believed in Sir John Templeton’s abil- 
ity to fathom a secret which had baffled the 
united intelligence of every official, military and 
otherwise, in the country; and, moreover, such 
knowledge of his doings as he had elicited ex- 
cited his disapproval, if not his grave suspicions. 

He now held in his hand what he considered 
irrefragable proof of the incompetence of the 
man whose presence in the capital, modest and 
unobtrusive as it appeared, had nevertheless ham- 
pered him and interfered with his policy at every 
step. He knew that Prince Ottomarck had been 


THE VANISHED EMTEROR. 13S 

chiefly instrumental in bringing Sir John Tem- 
pleton to Berolingen, and it afforded him a sort 
of grim satisfaction to be able to disconcert the 
sage old diplomat, in whom so many placed their 
trust, before the eyes of his most staunch ad- 
mirer. 

Prince Ottomarck was pacing the room in 
which their conversation was passing with giant 
strides, silent and thoughtful. From the street 
below there sounded every now and then a low 
roar, as some one started a cheer in the hope of 
its inducing the idol of the hour to show himself 
once more at the brilliantly lighted window. But 
the expectation was a vain one. 

It was now eleven o’clock, and still Sir John 
Templeton, whose arrival the two statesmen were 
awaiting, remained absent. 

In outward personal appearance a certain faint 
resemblance might be detected between the ex- 
Chancellor and his successor. But it is a resem- 
blance of form only. Count Capricius is a fine 
soldierly figure, with an imperious look and a 
dignified bearing — every inch of him a warrior. 
The Prince, too, as is well known, possesses all 
the characteristics of one born and bred, so to 
speak, in military surroundings. Only in him the 
soldier is but the one-half — and indeed the lesser 
half — of the man. So far, then, and no farther, the 
likeness goes. In every other respect a greater 


136 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


contrast could scarcely be conceived than that 
existing between the veteran statesman who built 
up the great Arminian Empire and the man who 
has taken his place at the helm of affairs. 

Indeed, many a more striking figure than that 
of the worthy Count would dwindle into pigmy 
insignificance when placed side by side with the 
most imposing personality the century has 
brought forth. Only those who have been 
brought into actual personal contact with the 
great Chancellor can realize the impression of 
colossal power which he produces upon his fel- 
lowmen. Nor is this impression due exclusively 
to the intellectual superiority which distinguishes 
him from his kind. It is the weightiness of the 
whole man, physical as well as moral, that creates 
it. The ponderous figure, towering far above the 
average human height, with its martial bearing 
and the firm, almost massive, features; the great 
fearless eyes, overshadowed by thick, bushy eye- 
brows, beneath which their glance shoots out 
straight at the object before them, like the quick 
flash of a searchlight, sudden and disconcerting; 
the proud, determined lips, breathing irresistible 
energy and resolution; all these outward charac- 
teristics seem but the external shape and form, 
the corporeal expression, as it were, of the com- 
manding genius which men have learned to re- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


137 


gard as identical with the very name of Otto- 
marck. 

At this moment the countenance of the ex- 
Chancellor was slightly flushed with the excite- 
ment consequent upon the discussion in which 
he had just taken part. The precarious state of 
Imperial affairs had, of course, been generally 
known to him. Yet, when regarded in detail, the 
gravity of the situation had exceeded even his 
w^orst expectations. 

Was it indeed, he reflected, no longer a ques- 
tion of “Where is the Emperor?” but rather of 
“What is to be done without him?” Again and 
again, whilst the Imperial Chancellor in loud, 
strident tones was explaining such details of the 
position of affairs with which his companion was 
of necessity still unacquainted, the Prince took 
up and perused a much-handled document which 
lay in a conspicuous position, among a heap of 
maps, charts and official papers of every descrip- 
tion, upon the huge square table in the center of 
the room. His mind seemed concentrated upon 
the contents of this one document, and it is to 
be feared that the Chancellor’s eloquent discourse 
fell upon deaf or unheeding ears. 

At last the door opened, and the long expected 
visitor was announced. A moment later Sir John 
Templeton entered. 

As he tarried for the space of an instant upon 


138 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the threshold, his keen eyes wandered with an 
inquiring glance from one to the other of the two 
statesmen. The one, he was well aware, regarded 
him with anything but friendly feelings. The 
other he knew to be his friend and well-wisher, 
and his instinct, or perhaps the knowledge he had 
gained since he quitted the palace of the Em- 
press, told him that he might have need of his 
weighty support. 

Prince Ottomarck greeted him with great cor- 
diality. The Chancellor on the other hand re- 
ceived him with a stiff and somewhat haughty 
inclination of the head, which Sir John Temple- 
ton acknowledged with a smile and a respectful 
bow. 

“If I have not been able to obey your Excel- 
lency's summons earlier,” he said, in a tone of 
easy apology, “it is chiefly due to the fact that 
the approaches to Willibald street are at this mo- 
ment practically impassable to all but Royalty.” 

The Chancellor received this explanation with 
the shadow of a frown and a wave of the hand. 
It was not pleasant to him, as may be conceived, 
to be reminded of a fact which, among other 
things, emphasized rather invidiously the respec- 
tive positions held by himself and his great pre- 
decessor in the estimation of the people of 
Berolingen.” 

“I have desired your attendance here. Sir John 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


139 


Templeton,” he began with characteristic abrupt- 
ness, “in order that you may have an opportun- 
ity of communicating to his Highness the results 
of the investigation you have been conducting 
at the Court of Berolingen.” 

Even a less quick ear than Sir John’s would 
have caught the sarcastic intonation of the last 
words. He understood the challenge they con- 
veyed, and accepted it. 

“These results, as your Excellency is well 
aware,” he replied, “are as yet scarcely of such a 
definite nature as to permit of my recounting 
them to a third person with any profit to him or 
myself.” 

“Yet, such as they are,” the Chancellor pur- 
sued, “they appear to have warranted you in ar- 
riving at certain deductions ” 

“Which are not shared by your Excellency,” 
Sir John broke in dryly. “Precisely. Perhaps 
for that very reason I am acting wisely in main- 
taining my own counsel until such time as I may 
find myself in possession of facts convincing 
enough to prove the correctness of those deduc- 
tions even to your Excellency’s satisfaction.” 

“You still adhere, then, to these deductions?” 
the Chancellor asked. 

“If your Excellency means whether I still ad- 
here to my opinion that it would be expedient to 
release his Majesty’s private secretary from his 


140 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


present position of semi-captivity — yes. I have 
seen no cause, since I last had the honor of sug- 
gesting this course, to alter a view which, as your 
Excellency knows, is based on the conviction that 
no man is less deserving of the suspicion that 
rests upon him than Doctor Georg Hofer.” 

“The friend of the Duke of Cumbermere?” 

“The friend of the Duke of Cumbermere, if 
your Excellency so pleases.” 

“Ha,” the Chancellor exclaimed, struck by 
something in Sir John’s tone. “Do you now 
doubt this friendship?” 

“By no means. I am convinced that his Royal 
Highness the Duke of Cumbermere possesses no 
stauncher friend in the world than Doctor Georg 
Hofer.” 

The Chancellor cast a significant glance across 
at the Prince, who stood listening to this conver- 
sation with his arms crossed and a look of curious 
interest on his iron countenance. 

“Since this is your deliberate conviction. Sir 
John Templeton,” Count Capricius said, ap- 
proaching the table and taking up the document 
that had so deeply engaged the Prince’s atten- 
tion just before the old diplomat entered, “I 
would commend the contents of this dispatch to 
your earnest consideration.” 

And he placed the document in Sir John’s 
hands, with the air of a man who, having care- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


141 


fully laid a mine and applied a match to the fuse 
that is to fire it, retires calmly to a distance to 
watch the explosion. 

Sir John Templeton took the paper and read 
it quietly. It ran thus : 

“Headquarters of the Fourth Imperial Army Corps 
in Noveria. 

“The Duke of Cumbermere has succeeded in pass- 
ing through our lines, and has assumed command of 
the rebel forces now encamped in a strong position 
two miles from Celle. Unless we advance promptly, 
the situation may become serious. Impossible to tem- 
porize any longer. The Duke’s proclamation, which 
has been posted throughout the province, in spite of 
our vigilance, has excited the people to fever heat. 
All the old resentment has broken out afresh. Thou- 
sands are daily flocking to the rebel standard. Dis- 
affection is increasing by leaps and bounds, and there 
are indications that it is spreading to our own troops. 
Our inactivity is interpreted as weakness. Rumor 
still persistent that rebels hold important captive. 
Solicit immediate orders to attack. 

“Von Groben, 

“General in Command of the Fourth Noverian Army 
Corps.’’ 

'‘A truly interesting document,” Sir John said, 
when he had perused it. “And what, may I ask, 
does your Excellency propose to do?” 

The quiet, interrogative tone incensed the 
Chancellor. 


142 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


^‘I will tell you, Sir John Templeton,” he said, 
planting his somewhat burly form squarely be- 
fore the old diplomat. “It is the opinion of the 
Government that the time has arrived for them to 
adopt stringent measures against the man whom 
his Majesty the Emperor has left in our custody 
for a very obvious reason. If we are obliged to 
proceed with due caution in our dealings with the 
rebel Prince who has dared to lay hands on the 
person of his Majesty the Arminian Emperor, 
there is at least nothing to hinder us from dealing 
summarily with this audacious friend of his, 
whose complicity in the treasonable scheme no 
sane man can now doubt. Do you follow me?” 

“Perfectly,” Sir John replied. “Your Excel- 
lency alludes to Doctor Georg Hofer. I under- 
stand, then, that it is the intention of the Imperial 
Government to proceed against his Majesty^s sec- 
retary as a rebel and a traitor?” 

“Exactly.” 

Sir John Templeton reflected a moment. 

“This is a definite and final decision?” he asked. 
“I mean, the Government have already resolved 
irrevocably upon this course?” 

“A council of ministers is summoned for eleven 
o’clock to-morrow morning, when the necessary 
order will be issued.” 

“Then,” said Sir John simply, “I would beg 
your Excellency at the same time to inform the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


143 


council that, upon the issue of this contemplated 
order, I shall withdraw my services and return to 
Vienna.” 

The Chancellor bit his lip angrily, and Prince 
Ottomarck, who had meanwhile seated himself 
and remained silent during the whole conversa- 
tion, rose with a gesture of concern. 

“You disapprove of this course, then?” the 
Chancellor asked. 

“Totally,” Sir John answered curtly. 

“Why?” 

“For two reasons. Firstly, because I know it 
to be conceived under the fatal misapprehension 
that Doctor Hofer has anything to disclose worth 
learning by his Majesty’s advisers, and secondly, 
because I am particularly interested in the welfare 
of his Majesty’s private secretary. Sir,” he went 
on impressively, “I can only repeat once more that 
there is no man who has less knowledge of the Em- 
peror’s fate and whereabouts than Doctor Georg 
Hofer.” 

“Very good,” the Chancellor exclaimed angrily. 
“We shall see if he persists in this profession of 
ignorance when he learns what such persistence 
may cost him.” 

Sir John Templeton inclined his head gravely. 

“Your Excellency,” he said, “is of course the 
best judge of your own affairs. I have expressed 
my views, and have nothing more to say.” 


144 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


Prince Ottomarck now advanced, in order to 
interpose a few words. But before he could carry 
out his intention he was interrupted by the Chan- 
cellors secretary, who entered the room hurriedly, 
and placed a letter in his Excellency’s hands. 

‘‘From the Minister of Police, Baron von Eller- 
mann,” he said; “to be delivered to your Excel- 
lency without delay.” 

The Chancellor hastily broke the seal, and read 
the note. As he did so, a lock of triumph lighted 
up his face, and turning to Sir John Templeton, he 
exclaimed almost roughly: 

“Now, sir; read this, and if you should then 
still be desirous of discussing the question of Doc- 
tor Hofer’s innocence, you will find me at your 
service.” 

Sir John took the note, which contained an en- 
closure, and read as follows: 

“I have to inform your Excellency that the accom- 
panying communication addressed to Doctor Georg 
Hofer, his Majesty’s private secretary, was delivered 
this evening at the Royal Castle by a man profession 
to be an ordinary street messenger. The individual, 
who declares the missive was handed to him for in- 
stant delivery by a person unknown to him, has been 
arrested and subjected to a rigorous examination; so 
far without result. He is now in the police cells await- 
ing your Excellency’s pleasure.” 

The communication referred to, which Sir John 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


145 


Templeton merely glanced at with a curious smile, 
contained these few words: 

“The Duke of Cumbermere has reached Noveria 
and placed himself at the head of the rebel forces. 
Take no step to-morrow night without consulting him 
who sends this, or you will imperil a life more 
precious to you than that of Doctor Georg Hofer. 

“A Friend.” 

‘‘Well?” the Chancellor exclaimed, as Sir John 
quietly returned the documents to him. 

Sir John glanced up at him with a half amused 
smile. 

“The police are wary indeed,” he said. “I have 
only to deplore the harsh fate that has befallen 
the unfortunate messenger; for in truth, no man 
ever suffered more innocently.” 

“Have the goodness to explain your meaning. 
Sir John Templeton,” the Chancellor said, with a 
dawning suspicion that there was a mistake some- 
where. 

“I mean, sir,” Sir John said, “that your Ex- 
cellency need not put yourself to the pains of 
seeking for the sender of this seemingly danger- 
ous missive. He stands before you.” 

Prince Ottomarck gave vent to an audible 
chuckle, and resumed his seat. 

“You?” the Chancellor cried, half in astonish- 
ment, half in anger. Then flinging the letter pas- 


146 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


sionately upon the table, he added, after a pause: 
“You knew, then, of the Duke’s appearance in 
Noveria before you entered this room?” 

“I did,” Sir John replied. 

‘From what source?” 

“From a source, sir, to which I have owed most 
of the information his Majesty’s Government have 
thought fit to withhold from me. Had I known 
the contents of that dispatch twelve hours ago, 
when it was already in your Excellency’s 
hands ” 

“Well, what then?” the Chancellor asked 
haughtily. 

“I should now be twelve hours nearer the solu- 
tion of the problem on which the fate of Arminia 
is hanging, that is all,” Sir John replied. 

The Chancellor was silent; perhaps because he 
felt at a loss what to say. He had conceived an 
intense dislike of old Sir John, which grew the 
deeper the more conscious he became of his in- 
ability to worst him. It is not pleasant to be cor- 
rected, especially if you happen to be an Imperial 
Chancellor; and somehow all Sir John’s actions 
had a tendency to put the Imperial Government 
in the wrong, a position conceivably intolerable 
to so august a body. 

“For what purpose,” Count Capricius asked at 
last, “did you communicate this news to Doctor 
Hofer?” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


147 


“Because I believe him to be as deeply inter- 
ested in it as the Government to whom it is ad- 
dressed,” Sir John replied. 

“It appears to me,” the Chancellor observed, 
“that you are playing a dangerous game, sir, 
which may involve trouble to others besides the 
person who plays it.” 

“The game I am playing, since your Excel- 
lency pleases so to term it,” Sir John retorted, 
“is not of my seeking. It has been forced upon 
me by circumstances of which no one is better 
aware than your Excellency. It rests of course 
with the Imperial Government to decide whether 
they will once more reject the advice I have ten- 
dered them. If they do so, I shall, as I have al- 
ready intimated, resign my task into the hands 
of those who entrusted me with it.” 

There was no mistaking the ring of determina- 
tion with which these words were delivered. Sir 
John Templeton was in earnest, and both Count 
Capricius and Prince Ottomarck recognized the 
fact. The latter had watched the play of the old 
diplomat’s features throughout this somewhat 
heated discussion with keen attention. Turning 
to him now, he said: 

“One question. Sir John, which may save many 
others. Are you quite assured that you will suc- 
ceed in accomplishing the task you speak of?” 

“Quite.” 


148 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“That is to say, to bring his Majesty the Em- 
peror safely back to his capital 

“Precisely.” 

“This in spite of what you have just learned 
here?” the Prince pursued, lifting up the dispatch 
from the Noverian headquarters, and letting it 
fall back upon the table. 

“In spite of it.” 

“You attach no importance, then, to the Duke of 
Cumbermere^s action, which, assuming that the 
Emperor is really still a free agent, can only be re- 
garded as that of a madman?” 

Sir John Templeton paused before he replied. 

“Your Highness,” he said, “touches a question 
of vital interest, on which I would prefer to main- 
tain silence. The Duke of Cumbermere’s arrival 
upon the scene of action alters the whole complex- 
ion of affairs. I had scarcely dared expect it,” he 
added, almost reflectively. 

“Then you admit at last,” the Chancellor in- 
terposed, “that this fact is at variance with the 
conclusions upon which you have hitherto been 
acting?” 

“Your Excellency,” Sir John said, “unfortu- 
nately credits me with that which I have never 
possessed. It was precisely a conclusion which I 
wanted. And the dispatch I have just read has 
supplied it in the most unexpected manner.” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


149 


“Ha,” the Chancellor ejaculated, taken some- 
what aback. “And this conclusion is?” 

“This conclusion,” Sir John answered, with a 
whimsical look at his interrogator, “is that his 
Majesty the Emperor Willibald, your illustrious 
sovereign, is at this moment master of the politi- 
cal situation.” 

Even Prince Ottomarck could not help giving 
vent to an exclamation of incredulous surprise 
at this seemingly extraordinary statement. 

“With all due respect for your opinions. Sir 
John,” he said, in a tone of slight raillery, which 
was peculiar to him, “that sounds under present 
circumstances almost like a Franconian victory 
dispatch. But, even assuming what you say is 
correct, the chief question, it seems to me 

“The chief question is, and always remains. 
Where is the Emperor?” Sir John said. “Indeed, 
your Highness is right Yet even that question is 
now nearer solution. Were less at stake, I would 
venture to recommend an experiment which 
might end all further suspense. But in view of 
what may possibly be his Majesty^s intentions, I 
dare not risk it without the certainty of success.” 

“Well,” the Prince asked, “and what is it?” 

“The arrest of Baron von Arnold, the husband 
of Doctor HofePs sister,” Sir John answered. 

“Ah,” cried the Chancellor with some anima- 
tion, “there we meet on more congenial ground, 


150 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


sir; though, for my part, I confess, had I the 
choice, I would rather arrest the wife than the 
husband. Commend me to a woman for down- 
right rabid partisanship. This fair Noverian spit- 
fire is more likely to be concerned in whatever 
hidden conspiracy we may be dealing with than 
either her brother or her husband.” 

“Your Excellency knows her, then?” Prince 
Ottomarck inquired. 

“I know her from her letters,” the Chancel- 
lor replied, “and they prove her to be inspired 
with a hatred of Brandenburg and its royal house 
which would do credit to the Duke of Cumber- 
mere himself.” 

“Her letters?” the Prince asked. “To whom?” 

“To his Majesty’s secretary. Doctor Georg 
Hofer,” the Chancellor rejoined. “We have a fair 
collection of these precious documents, and they 
afford interesting reading, as Sir John Templeton 
will no doubt testify.” 

“And was his Majesty,” the Prince pursued, 
“aware of these sentiments of hatred which his 
secretary’s sister harbored against the country 
whose sovereign he was serving?” 

“Baron von Ellermann assures me,” the Chan- 
cellor said, “that his Majesty has been repeatedly 
warned within the last four months, both against 
Doctor Hofer and his sister, whose relations with 
this Baron von Arnold had aroused the minis- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


151 


ter’s suspicions. But — you know the Emperor. 
He sent his warners about their business, took 
the matter entirely into his own hands, ordered 
every letter written to or dispatched by Doctor 
Hofer to be submitted to him, and told Baron 
von Ellermann in plain words that he was ‘an 
ass,^ and that before long he — his Majesty him- 
self — would teach him a lesson in his own pro- 
fession, from which he trusted that he would 
benefit.” 

“This sounds interesting,” Prince Ottomarck 
observed. “What does Sir John Templeton say 
to it? You have read these letters of Demoiselle 
Hofer, now Baroness von Arnold?” 

“I have,” Sir John said. “And I can confirm 
his Excellency's statement that they afford most 
interesting and instructive reading. Only, politi- 
cally speaking, I should say they have about as 
much value as the sentimental outpourings of any 
average Berolingen school girl.” 

“School girls may prove dangerous in 
circumstances,” the Chancellor observed. “At 
any rate, there can be no doubt that the senti- 
ments entertained by Demoiselle Hofer against 
the illustrious sovereign whose bread her brother 
is eating are genuinely sentiments of the deepest 
and bitterest hatred.” 

“That is beyond question, of course,” Sir John 
answered. “But I think his Majesty was per- 


152 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

fectly alive to the fact that he possessed no friend 
in the beautiful Demoiselle Hofer. Under these 
circumstances, her marriage with Baron Fred- 
erick von Arnold becomes significantly sugges- 
tive.” 

“It is on account of this marriage, I conceive,” 
Prince Ottomarck asked, glancing curiously at 
the speaker, “that you would advise the arrest of 
this Noverian Baron?” 

“Partly,” Sir John answered. Then, turning 
suddenly to the Chancellor, he said, with an ap- 
parently abrupt change of the topic: “The Em- 
peror and his secretary fell out some months ago. 
Has your Excellency any explanation to offer for 
this sudden estrangement?” 

The Chancellor raised his eyebrows slightly. 

“It has been attributed to various causes,” he 
replied. “Possibly one of them may have been 
the unfortunate gossip which whispered Doctor 
Hofer’s name in connection with that of her Im- 
perial Highness the Princess Margaret.” 

“I have been too long absent from court to be 
au courant of these things,” said the Prince. “Pray 
explain. Do I understand that this bourgeois 
secretary, who appears to have infatuated his Ma- 
jesty in an extraordinary degree, has dared to 
lift his eyes to the Emperor’s own sister?” 

“My dear Prince,” the Chancellor said, “the 
history of this Imperial infatuation, as you rightly 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


153 


term it, is wrapped in a good deal of obscurity. 
The Emperor’s acquaintance with this man Hofer, 
as you know, commenced at the university, when 
his Majesty was still simple Prince Willibald. 
Already there, in spite of his open espousal of 
the cause of the Noverian pretender, he appears 
to have made a strong and abiding impression 
upon the sovereign. When his Majesty came to 
the throne, he offered his old university comrade 
a position in his service, which was declined. 
They are known to have corresponded very fre- 
quently, but all inducements held out by his Ma- 
jesty to this strange personage were unavailing. 
He would accept no favor at the Emperor’s hands. 
At last, about a year ago, the court was startled 
by the sudden appointment of Doctor Georg 
Hofer as private secretary to his Majesty. It is 
averred — with what truth I am unable to say — 
that the suggestion in this instance came from 
Doctor Hofer himself, who, yielding to the Em- 
peror’s repeated and pressing invitations, de- 
clared himself willing to accept a confidential po- 
sition in his Majesty’s immediate entourage, on 
the condition that by doing so he should forfeit 
neither his character as his Majesty’s friend nor 
the right to hold his own independent political 
views. It must be acknowledged that during 
the period of his office he has proved himself 
singularly free from the usual faults of those who 


154 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


enjoy Imperial favor. At least, there are no in- 
dications that he has ever used his Majesty’s 
friendship for the purposes of his own advance- 
ment. But presumably this reticence was a mere 
cover to hide a loftier and more daring ambition, 
which, when discovered by his Majesty, led to 
the estrangement that culminated three weeks ago 
in the secretary’s practical arrest.” 

“And the Princess Margaret?” Prince Otto- 
marck inquired. 

The Chancellor shrugged his shoulders. 

“The Princess, as you know, was removed 
from Berolingen for a time,” he said. “And here 
is the strangest marvel of all. As suddenly as she 
had been banished, she was recalled to court 
again, and up to the time of Doctor Hofer’s ar- 
rest there was not the faintest sign to show that 
his Majesty suspected the fact of a tacit attach- 
ment existing between her Imperial Highness and 
the man in connection with whom her name had 
once been mentioned.” 

“Which would appear to negative the alleged 
reason for her Imperial Highness’ absence from 
Berolingen,” the Prince remarked. “But to re- 
turn to this interesting lady, the present Baroness 
von Arnold,” he went on, addressing Sir John 
Templeton. “Did she accompany her brother 
to the court of Berolingen?” 

“By no means,” Sir John answered. “Demoi- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


155 


selle Hofer, who has been brought up in the 
strictest seclusion, has steadfastly refused to set 
foot in the Arminian capital. Although appar- 
ently full of affection and reverence for her 
brother, she never approved of what she termed 
his weakness towards the man who had deprived 
his lawful sovereign of his inheritance. Conse- 
quently, when Doctor Hofer accepted the office 
he now holds, he was compelled to leave his sis- 
ter under the care of the lady who had been en- 
trusted with her education at Friedrichsdorf, a 
townlet, as your Highness possibly knows, sit- 
uated not many miles from the estate of Arnolds- 
hausen, of which Demoiselle Hofer has since be- 
come the mistress.” 

The Chancellor regarded the speaker with some 
astonishment. 

“Whence do you derive this knowledge, pray?” 
he asked. “You speak as if you had seen and 
conversed with this Demoiselle Hofer.” 

“I have studied the correspondence between her 
and her brother, that is all,” Sir John replied; 
“perhaps, however, with greater care than your 
Excellency and others have bestowed upon the 
task.” 

“Do you not think it possible,” the Prince 
asked suddenly, “that his Majesty possessed some 
secret intelligence, known to himself alone, in- 
criminating his secretary and proving his com- 


156 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

plicity in the treasonable occurrences in No- 
veria?” 

“I am convinced, on the contrary, sir,” said Sir 
John, “that Doctor Hofer is totally innocent of 
any participation in the rising in Noveria.” 

“Yet his correspondence with the Duke of Cum- 
bermere proves ” 

“It proves him in one respect at least to have 
been the dupe, not the deceiver,” Sir John said. 

“But how about his sister, the Baroness von 
Arnold?” the Prince asked. “Do I gather that, 
in spite of the violent sentiments she has given 
proof of, you hold her incapable of being impli- 
cated in any conspiracy against his Majesty the 
Emperor?” 

“I believe, on the contrary,” Sir John rejoined, 
“that she has even been the means of thwarting 
certain designs upon his Majesty — unwittingly, 
of course, but none the less surely.” 

“In what way?” 

“By marrying Baron von Arnold.” 

The Chancellor, who had moved away, turned 
round sharply at these words and darted a look 
of keen interest at the speaker. The Prince, to 
whom the reply came quite unexpected, remained 
silent. 

“What you have just said,” the Chancellor re- 
marked, addressing Sir John Templeton for the 
first time in a tone of some consideration, “is in- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


157 


teresting. It is a singular fact,” he went on, turn- 
ing to the Prince, “that his Majesty himself 
should apparently have held a very similar opin- 
ion on the subject of Baron von Arnold’s mar- 
riage. When this man Hofer succeeded in per- 
suading his Majesty to reinstate Baron von Ar- 
nold in his possessions ” 

“Is your Excellency so sure,” Sir John here 
broke in, “that this reinstatement was the work 
of Doctor Hofer?” 

“Do you doubt it?” 

“I do not doubt that Doctor Hofer welcomed 
with gratitude the clemency extended by his 
Majesty to so fervent a patriot and adherent of 
his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumbermere. 
But I have reason to believe that the act was en- 
tirely spontaneous on his Majesty’s part.” 

“Well, be it so,” the Chancellor conceded, 
with unusual graciousness. “It matters little now 
who was the originator of Baron von Arnold’s 
recall. But it is a fact that his Majesty, although 
to all appearances exceedingly incensed with his 
secretary on learning that the first fruit of this act 
of grace was the alliance of Demoiselle Hofer with 
the Noverian Baron, declared to me on more than 
one occasion with his own lips that this contem- 
plated marriage only confirmed him in his opin- 
ion of Von Arnold’s honorable intentions toward 


158 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the Arminian Government, which had reinstated 
him in his possessions.” 

“Though the lady he had married was admit- 
tedly so implacable a foe of everything and every- 
one Arminian that she even declined to set foot 
in the capital?” Prince Ottomarck asked in as- 
tonishment. 

“It sounds strange, yet so it is,” the Chancellor 
affirmed. “Indeed, but for the extremely strong 
views entertained by his Majesty on the subject 
of his newest Noverian protege, I should not 
have hesitated to adopt the very measure Sir 
John Templeton has just hinted at, and to have 
both Herr von Arnold and his precious wife 
brought to Berolingen.” 

“And now,” Sir John asked, “does your Ex- 
cellency see any reason to waive these scruples?” 

“I do not, sir,” the Chancellor replied. “In 
recalling Baron von Arnold his Majesty can have 
had but one purpose — that of conciliating the still 
powerful faction which has hitherto steadily re- 
fused to recognize the new order of things in No- 
veria. To arrest Baron von Arnold would be to 
certainly frustrate that purpose, whilst the ad- 
vantage to be gained by such arrest is at best a 
very problematical one.” 

Sir John Templeton bowed. 

“And Doctor Hofer?” he continued. “Does 
your Excellency see fit to reconsider the contem- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


159 


plated proceedings against his Majesty^s private 
secretary?” 

The Chancellor was about to reply, when an 
interruption occurred of an unforeseen kind. 
While Sir John Templeton was still speaking, the 
clock of a neighboring church had chimed out 
the hour of one. Prince Ottomarck, who had 
been pacing the room in silent thought, stopped 
at the sound, approached the window, and, draw- 
ing back the heavy curtain that hung before it, 
gazed out. 

A loud roar from without, continuing for fully 
a minute after the statesman had hastily replaced 
the curtain, showed that outside in the street the 
multitude was still standing on guard patiently 
waiting to see, perhaps even to hear, some reas- 
suring words from the man whose mere presence 
in the capital had momentarily at least lifted the 
weight of anxiety from their breasts. 

Suddenly, high above the vociferous cheering 
and the persistent cries of “Ottomarck! Otto- 
marck 1” a stentorian voice rang out the words: 
“Give us back our Emperor!” A moment’s total 
silence ensued. Then the words were taken up, 
echoed and re-echoed, again and again, by thou- 
sands of throats, frantically, deliriously. 

The three men listened, each with a different 
expression — the Chancellor with curling lip, but 


160 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


his countenance just a shade paler than before, 
Sir John Templeton grave and pensive. 

The Prince stood with brows slightly contract- 
ed, grim, yet startled. The sudden demonstration 
outside had struck him almost like a comment 
upon his own thoughts, confirming and ampli- 
fying them. All he had heard that night was 
practically new to him, and, though he was un- 
able to piece it together, he knew him from whom 
he had learned it too well to doubt that if any 
man were capable of doing so he was that man. 

As the din in the street slowly subsided and 
died away in the distance, his Highness strode 
gravely across the room toward the Count, and, 
laying his hand upon his arm, said: 

“If your Excellency follows my advice you will 
not disregard that warning.” 

And he pointed with his left hand significantly 
toward the street. 

“Your Highness thinks ” 

“I think,” the Prince went on, “that he who 
would save Arminia from the most hideous of 
the dangers now threatening her must bring the 
Emperor back to his capital. I know not if it 
still be possible. But, if mortal man can accom- 
plish it, your Excellency may rest assured that it 
is he who now stands before us.” 

The Chancellor glanced ^ across at Sir John 
Templeton, hesitated and frowned. He too, had 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


161 


his pride allowed him to own it, was at heart 
shaken by what had passed that evening. But 
there was still a lingering obstinacy within him 
which prevented him from yielding without some 
show of resistance. 

“Your Highness’ recommendation,” he said, “is 
of course of the very greatest weight. But in 
consideration of the very grave evidence that has 
accumulated against this man Hofer ” 

“I would myself take the very course your Ex- 
cellency has proposed,” the Prince said quickly; 
“only not at the cost of losing services which I am 
convinced will prove of more advantage to Ar- 
minia than any knowledge that this man Hofer 
may be forced to disclose. “Surely,” he added, “the 
Imperial Government have enough to do to keep 
the ship of state afloat among the political break- 
ers that are surging around it. Let them not add 
to their troubles by blindly rushing into new dan- 
gers.” 

Almost unconsciously the Prince had drifted 
into the emphatic, dictatory tone which years of 
unlimited power had rendered natural to him. 
Count Capricius, now his successor, had formerly 
been his subordinate, and had perhaps not for- 
gotten the habit of bowing to the decision of one 
who had once been his chief — and indeed, what a 
chief! 

“Well,” he said at last, reluctantly, “be it so. 


162 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

then. If Sir John Templeton is satisfied with this 
concession to an opinion which is, to say the 
least, strangely at variance with the facts, I am 
willing to suspend the contemplated proceedings 
against Doctor Georg Hofer until the sovereigns 
shall have met in council. But that is all I can 
and will do. Grant heaven I may not have to 
regret it.” 

Thus ended an interview the result of which 
was destined to have a more important bearing 
upon the future of Arminian affairs than the con- 
ference of crowned heads and ministers that had 
preceded it. 

Five minutes later Sir John Templeton was 
driving with Prince Ottomarck through the still 
densely packed Willibald Street, amid the wildest 
demonstrations of the excited crowds, toward the 
Victoria Hotel, in the Avenue of Limes. 

It was half-past one when they reached the 
hotel. When Sir John Templeton left it again 
the first rays of the morning sun were already 
glistening through the rich foliage of the trees in 
the avenue. But the city was now quiet, and its 
inhabitants were wrapped in peaceful slumber. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


163 


CHAPTER VIIL 

THE EMPRESS’ STATE BALL. 

All the world knows of the famous ball which 
took place at Brussels on the eve of Waterloo; 
how many of those who danced gaily that festive 
night lay stiff and stark, crippled or mangled, a 
sight of blood and horror, within a few hours of 
that strange, ill-timed frolic. The mind is curi- 
ously fascinated by contrasts of this description, 
however dire and terrible they be, and it has clung 
to this one with peculiar tenacity, and will no 
doubt continue to cling to it and dwell upon it as 
long as history lasts. 

If one were to seek for an event to compare 
with the doings of that fateful night one might 
do worse than fix one’s choice upon the no less 
historical festivity of which it is my purpose now 
to speak: the state ball given by her Majesty the 
Dowager Arminian Empress in honor of the five 
and twenty sovereigns who had assembled in 
Berolingen to discuss the fate of the much-threat- 
ened Empire of her absent son. 

Here, too, a contrast is afforded of a nature 
scarcely less striking than the one just dwelt upon; 
and yet how different, both in character and in 
circumstance. There the contrast we now con- 
template with a feeling of curious awe was that of 


164 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


black night following upon sunny day, of blood 
and battle succeeding the sweets of happy rev- 
elry. Those revelers of eighty years ago made 
merry with the zest of beings for whom the future 
is as a thing unborn — gray, indistinct, and intan- 
gible; yet they knew of that which was to come, 
surely, inevitably. Here present and future min- 
gled, were blended together, as it were, in one 
incongruous picture. The grim demon of war — 
ay, of worse than war — stood, visible to all, 
threatening upon the threshold; yet none knew 
whether he would cross it, nor when. And the 
merrymaking was a feint, a sorry show of gayety 
hiding hideous doubt and gnawing anxiety. Not 
outwardly a sorry show indeed ; for nothing could 
have surpassed the splendor of the function nor 
the dazzling display of rank, and wealth, and 
power, and beauty which graced it, making it 
stand forth unique even in the annals of a court 
renowned for such brilliant spectacles. 

Two thousand four hundred guests, all told, 
thronged the halls of the Imperial palace that 
night, and among them were five and twenty 
crowned heads, each with his attendant suite and 
noble following. Almost every species of gor- 
geous uniform known in the civilized world, every 
variety of fashion in dress and costume, was to be 
met with in this motley, ever-moving crowd that 
filled every available space in the vast palace. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


165 


To describe anyone individually and in detail 
would be an impossible task. Even had the eye 
had time to rest upon any single toilet amid this 
kaleidoscopic movement of color, color every- 
where, it would have been too much dazzled by 
the blaze of light that was reflected back from the 
countless jewels glittering in the hair or shining 
on the dress of the fair wearers to arrive at any 
adequate judgment of its individual taste and 
beauty. Nor were matters mended in this re- 
spect by anything in the nature of quietness and 
simplicity in the dress of the sterner sex. The 
agreeable relief usually afforded by the sober, 
if somber, black of ordinary male evening dress, 
or even the comparatively simple court dress 
worn, at least by the general crowd of male guests, 
on similar state occasions in this country, was 
here sought for in vain. Indeed, in respect of 
color and brilliancy of personal adornment, the 
men vied with the ladies, and presented an almost 
equally dazzling spectacle. 

Ambassadors and diplomatists in their gor- 
geous full dress uniforms, ministers in their tight- 
fitting court attire, thickly weighted with gold 
braid ; military attaches of foreign powers, wear- 
ing the more or less picturesque uniforms of their 
respective regiments ; Arminian court dignitaries 
and state officials, with the badges and insignia 
of their office; and last, not least, in number as 


166 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


well as in quality, military grandees of every rank 
and description in the Arminian army, most of 
them with their breasts covered with stars and 
orders, plumed helmet in hand, resplendent in 
cuirass of double-colored cloth, pomaded, betas- 
selled, and ubiquitous; of such and their like 
was the male contingent of the brilliant assembly 
composed. 

The general company had the freedom of every 
room and hall excepting one apartment reserved 
for the Empress and her circle — in the present in- 
stance a royal circle in a truly multiple sense. 
Here her Majesty, assisted by her three daughters, 
several Princes and Princesses of the house of 
Brandenburg, and the foremost officials of her 
court, did the honors of the festival to her sover- 
eign guests, before commencing her progress at 
their head through the rooms thrown open to her 
lesser guests. From this central point — for the 
apartment was open on both sides, disclosing a 
long vista of rooms blazing with light and 
thronged with eager and expectant crowds — ^the 
initiated onlooker versed in the mysteries of her- 
aldry and the Golden Book might have observed 
a kind of graduating decline in the social status 
of the multitude, those who occupied the rooms 
nearest the Imperial presence doing so by a kind 
of tacit right and privilege in virtue of their su- 
perior blood, whilst the farther one wandered 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


167 


from this august center the less distinguished be- 
came the throng — to the well-instructed observer, 
of course; for the ordinary, unaided eye would 
have detected but little difference. 

Punctually at a quarter past ten her Majesty, 
giving her arm to the King of Wettinia, and pre- 
ceded by her Chief Court Marshal, led the way 
to the ballroom, where the dancing was, as usual, 
to be formally inaugurated by the performance 
of a royal polonaise. Immediately behind her 
Majesty followed the Prince Regent of Wittels- 
bach with the EmperoPs eldest sister, whilst a 
line of more than twenty couples, in strict order of 
precedence according to the sovereign rank of the 
guests, brought up the rear. 

As the royal procession passed through the 
wide lane formed by the bowing crowd in the ad- 
joining apartments, the strains of orchestral music 
could be faintly heard in the distance, where the 
musicians stationed in the grand ballroom had 
now struck up the first bars of the national march. 
Responding graciously right and left to the re- 
spectful greeting of her guests, her Majesty pro- 
ceeded slowly on the arm of her royal partner, in- 
terrupting her conversation with him every now 
and again to bestow a glance of recognition or a 
kindly smile upon this or that favored personage 
whom she met and distinguished among the bow- 
ing throng on her way. 


168 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


A more queenly figure than that of her Imperial 
Majesty of Arminia it would not be easy to find. 
Although in stature, like her venerable mother, 
rather below than above the normal height of 
women, she possessed that which neither height, 
nor shape, nor, indeed, any other mere external 
physical attribute can bestow: a truly regal pres- 
ence. 

Her dress was a magnificent robe of black satin 
and velvet, veiled with priceless old Venetian 
point, which was caught up at the side with white 
ostrich plumes and carried down the immense 
black train that flowed in a graceful curve from 
her right shoulder. She carried a bouquet of the 
rarest mauve orchids in her hand, and among 
other costly jewels she wore in her hair a tiara of 
rubies set with diamonds, which flashed forth a 
red fire as she swept along, proud and stately, the 
cynosure of every eye. 

There were many more gay of attire and youth- 
ful in appearance that followed in her wake, but 
they scarcely attracted more than a passing no- 
tice. The murmur of admiration which buzzed 
through the assembly as the procession wended 
its way through, lasting for some time after it 
had vanished from view, was unmistakably called 
forth by this picture of Imperial majesty at its 
head. 

Notwithstanding, there was one among that 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


169 


admiring throng on whom its ef¥ect was appar- 
ently lost; a solitary figure — distinctly solitary, 
even in the midst of the crush that surrounded 
him — standing half concealed behind a gigantic 
marble statue of the Greek Apollo in the grand 
corridor leading to the state ballroom. He was 
one of the few whose costume was simple evening 
black, a circumstance which in itself would have 
marked him out among the rest. But there was 
something beyond his costume that made him 
conspicuous in spite of his half concealed position. 

The most casual of observers would have rec- 
ognized at a glance from the mien of those in his 
immediate neighborhood that he was a personage 
whose presence was shunned. He was aware of 
it, too; not sensitively or resentfully. The dis- 
dainful curl of the lip and the proud half-smile that 
settled on his handsome face when this or that in- 
dividual whom the pushing, hustling crowd had 
brought unawares into immediate contact with 
him shrank back again, startled and concerned, 
proved the contrary. 

As the royal procession approached the spot 
where he stood he bent forward impulsively, and 
his eyes rested for the fraction of a second upon the 
illustrious pair who headed it. Then, with a 
quick, almost nervous, movement, they wandered 
anxiously along the line of those who followed 
behind, returning again and halting abruptly at 


170 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

the couple that came fourth in the order of prece- 
dence — her Imperial Highness the Princess Mar- 
garet of Brandenburg on the arm of her uncle, the 
Grand Duke of Zahringen. 

The Princess, her head slightly inclined, and a 
pensive look on her countenance, was listening 
with apparently deep interest to her partner's ear- 
nest conversation. But there must have been 
something magnetic in that steady gaze which 
rested upon her, for of a sudden, with a scarcely 
perceptible start, she raised her head and turned 
her eyes slowly in the direction from whence it 
came. A faint flush tinged her cheeks, fading 
away again as quickly as it came. That was all. 
Before even he who had thus attracted her notice 
was conscious that her eyes had met his she had 
passed by. 

A few moments later, when the rush of guests 
who immediately closed up behind the procession 
and followed it to the grand ballroom to witness 
the royal polonaise had subsided, leaving the 
corridor comparatively deserted, a distinguished- 
looking personage, with an unmistakably British 
type of countenance, detached himself from a 
small knot of men, comprising one or two noted 
diplomatists who had not joined in the general 
rush, and, deliberately crossing the space that 
separated him from the solitary figure beside the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


171 


pedestal of the Greek statue, greeted him in Eng- 
lish. 

“I was told that I should meet you here to- 
night, Doctor Hofer,” he said. “May I express 
the pleasure I feel in doing so?” 

Doctor Hofer turned to him as he spoke, half 
surprised, half annoyed. But he took the hand 
extended toward him, and responded with a smile 
that had even something of cordiality in it. 

“You are very good. Sir Edward Hammer,” he 
said. “Your informant, I presume, was the per- 
son to whom I owe the unlooked-for privilege that 
has been accorded me.” 

The Ambassador nodded an assent. 

“Shall we seek a cooler atmosphere?” he said, 
with a wave of his hand in the direction whence 
the Royalties had just come. “These closed rooms 
are stifling at this season. The terrace is more 
inviting.” 

The Doctor cast a furtive glance toward the 
ballroom, where the stately opening dance was 
now in full progress. Then he looked inquiringly 
into the Ambassador's face. 

“You have something to say to me?” he asked, 
without stirring. 

“Nothing of importance,” Sir Edward an- 
swered. “Shall we go?” 

The invitation was too pointed to be declined 


172 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


without some definite reason, and Doctor Hofer 
was fain to accept it with a good grace. 

As they walked along side by side through the 
various rooms which had just been traversed by 
their Imperial hostess and her royal guests, many 
a curious look was cast upon them by those whom 
they passed. Sir Edward noticed them, and 
smiled. But Doctor Hofer was too much ab- 
sorbed in thoughts of his own, either to heed the 
att'.ntion bestowed upon him, or even to reply 
to the light and chatty observations which his 
companion addressed to him on the way. 

It was not until they had left the more or less 
crowded apartments of the inner palace, and 
passed through the handsome winter garden, 
which forms almost a separate wing of the build-' 
ing, covering an area of considerably over fifty 
square yards and opening out about midway on 
to the terrace which stretches the entire length 
of the palace on the garden side, that the Doctor 
apparently awoke to the consciousness that he 
had a companion at his side. 

“Why am I here to-night. Sir Edward Ham- 
mer?” he asked almost brusquely, when they had 
stepped out into the cool and fragrant night air. 

“I have not the remotest idea,” Sir Edward re- 
plied. 

“To be watched and spied upon, I presume,” 
he continued, rather sternly than bitterly, and 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


173 


scarcely awaiting the answer to his question, “As 
if all their watching and spying could drag that 
from me which I do not possess. If it is indeed 
Sir John Templeton whom I have to thank for 
this questionable privilege 

The Ambassador interrupted him by laying his 
hand lightly upon his arm. 

“I think there is no doubt,” he said, “that you 
have to thank Sir John Templeton for this privi- 
lege, Doctor Hofer. Perhaps you have to thank 
him for even more. If I may so far presume upon 
our acquaintance as to offer you a word of friendly 
advice, I would urge you not to despise the friend- 
ship of a man in whose perfect sincerity you may 
place implicit faith.” 

“You would render me a still greater service. 
Sir Edward Hammer,” Doctor Hofer rejoined, 
“if you would inform me to what circumstance I 
am indebted for this unsolicited display of in- 
terest on the part of a man whom I never saw 
until four days ago, and who, I understand, is 
serving the Government that holds me here a 
captive contrary to all law and justice.” 

“If you knew Sir John Templeton as I do. Doc- 
tor Hofer,” Sir Edward replied, “you would not 
need to be told that whomsoever he serves he 
serves for the purposes of truth and right, and for 
none other. To what circumstance you are in- 
debted for his friendly interest, I do not know. 


174 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


That you possess it is proof abundant to me that 
you are not undeserving of it.” 

“Are you so sure, then, that I possess it?” 

“As sure, sir, as I am of the fact that you owe 
to it the very air you are now breathing.” 

Doctor Hofer started. 

“You mean that I owe my life to this man?” 

“You owe it to him at least that you have not 
been obliged to purchase that life at a cost dearer, 
perhaps, than it is worth — ^to yourself.” 

Doctor Hofer gazed at the speaker long and 
searchingly, 

“Has Sir John Templeton commissioned your 
Excellency to tell me this?” he asked. 

“The question is perhaps natural. Doctor Hofer, 
but it is scarcely courteous,” Sir Edward retorted 
dryly. 

Doctor Hofer felt the rebuke, and colored. 

“Moreover,” the Ambassador went on, “Sir 
John Templeton, I can assure you, is not the man 
to employ a mouthpiece — were it even a British 
ambassador,” he added with a smile — “to pro- 
claim that which, if he so desired, he could pro- 
claim with his own lips. I know that, but for 
him, you would yesterday have been arraigned be- 
fore an Arminian court martial to answer a charge 
of conspiring with the Duke of Cumbermere 
against the liberty and the life of his Majesty the 
Arminian Emperor; with what result, in vi^w of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


175 


the fact that his Royal Highness is at present wag- 
ing war against his sovereign, I need hardly stop 
to explain. I was of opinion that this piece of 
news would interest you, Doctor Hofer. If I have 
been mistaken, I have only to regret my mistake, 
and apologize for troubling you with so insignifi- 
cant a matter.” 

“You punish me somewhat severely for a hasty 
utterance. Sir Edward,” Doctor Hofer answered, 
with an air of quiet dignity. “But perhaps I may 
not unfairly plead my exceptional position in ex- 
tenuation of an offense that was certainly not in- 
tentional. I can only repeat that I find it difficult 
to understand this display of interest in a compara- 
tive stranger on the part of a man whose alleged 
purpose is to serve those who distrust and perse- 
cute him. Does it not occur to you that Sir John 
Templeton, in bestowing so much unmerited at- 
tention upon my humble person, is perhaps neg- 
lecting the chief duty he has taken upon himself 
to perform at the court of Berolingen: that of 
restoring the Emperor to his loyal subjects?” 

“I think not,” Sir Edward answered simply. “I 
have never known Sir John to act without the 
most cogent of reasons. In this instance it hap- 
pens that he believes his Majesty the Emperor is 
safe and that you are not.” 

“By heaven/’ Doctor Hofer exclaimed, with an 


174 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


That you possess it is proof abundant to me that 
you are not undeserving of it.” 

“Are you so sure, then, that I possess it?” 

“As sure, sir, as I am of the fact that you owe 
to it the very air you are now breathing.” 

Doctor Hofer started. 

“You mean that I owe my life to this man?” 

“You owe it to him at least that you have not 
been obliged to purchase that life at a cost dearer, 
perhaps, than it is worth — to yourself.” 

Doctor Hofer gazed at the speaker long and 
searchingly. 

“Has Sir John Templeton commissioned your 
Excellency to tell me this?” he asked. 

“The question is perhaps natural. Doctor Hofer, 
but it is scarcely courteous,” Sir Edward retorted 
dryly. 

Doctor Hofer felt the rebuke, and colored. 

“Moreover,” the Ambassador went on, “Sir 
John Templeton, I can assure you, is not the man 
to employ a mouthpiece — were it even a British 
ambassador,” he added with a smile — “to pro- 
claim that which, if he so desired, he could pro- 
claim with his own lips. I know that, but for 
him, you would yesterday have been arraigned be- 
fore an Arminian court martial to answer a charge 
of conspiring with the Duke of Cumbermere 
against the liberty and the life of his Majesty the 
Arminian Emperor; with what result, in view of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


175 


the fact that his Royal Highness is at present wag- 
ing war against his sovereign, I need hardly stop 
to explain. I was of opinion that this piece of 
news would interest you, Doctor Hofer. If I have 
been mistaken, I have only to regret my mistake, 
and apologize for troubling you with so insignifi- 
cant a matter.” 

“You punish me somewhat severely for a hasty 
utterance. Sir Edward,” Doctor Hofer answered, 
with an air of quiet dignity. “But perhaps I may 
not unfairly plead my exceptional position in ex- 
tenuation of an offense that was certainly not in- 
tentional. I can only repeat that I find it difficult 
to understand this display of interest in a compara- 
tive stranger on the part of a man whose alleged 
purpose is to serve those who distrust and perse- 
cute him. Does it not occur to you that Sir John 
Templeton, in bestowing so much unmerited at- 
tention upon my humble person, is perhaps neg- 
lecting the chief duty he has taken upon himself 
to perform at the court of Berolingen: that of 
restoring the Emperor to his loyal subjects?” 

“I think not,” Sir Edward answered simply. “I 
have never known Sir John to act without the 
most cogent of reasons. In this instance it hap- 
pens that he believes his Majesty the Emperor is 
safe and that you are not.” 

“By heaven/^ Doctor Hofer exclaimed, with an 


176 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

earnestness that startled his companion, “1 wish 
I could share this happy view.’^ 

“Of the Emperor’s safety, or your own peril?” 
Sir Edward asked. 

“Sir,” Doctor Hofer said, almost passionately, 
“to be assured of his Majesty’s safety I would — 
but pshaw, we are trifling with words. I appre- 
ciate your solicitude. Sir Edward, fully and sin- 
cerely,” he went on more calmly. “But rest as- 
sured that it is not in Berolingen, nor from the 
quarter you imagine, that the gravest danger 
threatens me. Of this pray acquaint Sir John 
Templeton. It may save him much fruitless 
trouble. Meanwhile, if he would not go hopeless- 
ly astray, and jeopardize the safety of the Em- 
peror, whom it is his desire to serve, bid him be- 
ware of Noveria. There is more villainy afoot 
there. Sir Edward Hammer, than either he or 
those whom he advises dream of.” 

With which warning, solemnly uttered, he 
turned abruptly on his heel, and left Sir Edward 
standing alone on the terrace. 

“Singular,” the Ambassador murmured to him- 
self, as he gazed after the Doctor’s retreating fig- 
ure. “A profession of ignorance and knowledge 
in the same breath. What if Sir John should be 
mistaken after all?” 

This reflection, as he slowly wandered back 
into the palace, pursued him, filling him with a 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


177 


sense of uneasiness which he could not shake off. 
He had intended to convey a well-meant warn- 
ing to a man with whom, during the short time he 
had known him, he had always stood on friendly 
terms, and for whom, in spite of all appearances 
against him, he felt still a genuine esteem. In- 
stead of this, he had himself received a warning, 
and it was one that could not but shake his faith 
in the innocence of him who had uttered it. 

When Sir Edward Hammer rejoined the crowd 
in the general reception rooms, the royal polonaise 
had concluded, and dancing was in full swing 
in the apartments reserved for that purpose. The 
atmosphere was close and oppressive, in spite of 
open windows and other more ingenious contriv- 
ances to moderate the temperature, and the lan- 
guid air and flushed countenances of those who 
moved in it proved that its effect was telling with 
unpleasant consequences. Indeed, more than one 
member of the fair sex had only saved herself from 
total collapse by a timely recourse to smelling 
salts and other reviving remedies, and it was even 
whispered — with what truth probably few knew — 
that one of the Imperial princesses had been sud- 
denly overcome by the heat and been obliged to 
retire to her private apartments. 

Sir Edward Hammer was anxious to gain a few 
minutes’ speech with Sir John Templeton, with 
whom he had conversed for a short time at the 


178 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

beginning of the evening. But he found it impos- 
sible to accomplish his purpose. A British am- 
bassador at a state ball is not a free agent, and he 
had scarcely shown himself near the royal circle, 
when he was espied by the Empress, who sent for 
him, and engaged him for some time in conver- 
sation. Later on, when he was again at liberty 
to follow his own bent, he chanced at last upon 
the object of his search, but only to find him en- 
gaged in close conference with his Majesty the 
King of Wettinia. 

While he was waiting at a respectful distance 
in the hope that their conversation would soon 
end, he was startled by a merry little voice close 
beside him, which accosted him with these words : 

“Will you be my cavalier for three minutes. 
Sir Edward?” 

The light, sparkling blue eyes that gazed, half 
roguishly, half deprecatingly into his face, as he 
turned quickly to respond, would have proved ir- 
resistible to an older and sterner man than our 
sovereign’s distinguished representative at the 
court of Berolingen. Sir Edward Hammer was 
the most perfect courtier imaginable, and though 
he did so with an inward sigh, he acceded to the 
request from these fair lips without a moment’s 
hesitation. 

“Certainly, Comtesse,” he said; “until you 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


179 


weary of me, or dismiss me. Where may I con- 
duct you?” 

“I do not know,” she answered demurely, plac- 
ing her little hand in the arm he offered her. “Let 
us walk. Exercise is so refreshing.” 

The assertion, under the prevailing conditions, 
had certainly a smack of originality about it. But 
Sir Edward possessed far too much tact to ex^ 
press surprise at it. He merely sighed once more 
— only inwardly, of course — and obeyed. 

There was not one among all the men present 
that night, however high his rank, who would not 
have envied him the unlooked for distinction that 
had been conferred upon him; for the charms of 
the Comtesse Renee von Seckendorf, the insep- 
arable companion of her Imperial Highness the 
Princess Margaret, to whom she acted as lady-in- 
waiting, constituted in the most literal sense of 
the word a power in the household of her Maj- 
esty the Empress. Comtesse Renee could dare 
to do what no one else at the Imperial court could 
dare to do ; and she did it with a grace which none 
could withstand. She stood in high favor with 
the Empress, whose wrath, much feared by those 
who had experienced it, was rarely proof against 
one of the Comtesse’s penitent smiles. Indeed, 
so potent were these that it was even said the Em- 
peror himself had for their sake once overlooked 
what he had never been known to overlook be- 


180 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


fore : a breach of military discipline. In the strict 
sense of the term the Comtesse was not a beauty ; 
but she had that which is often far more effective 
than beauty pure and simple : a strikingly pretty 
cast of countenance, and a charm of manner 
which, as I have already indicated, was as diffi- 
cult to resist as it is to define. Though already 
twenty-one, and consequently by two years the 
senior of her Imperial mistress, she might easily 
have passed for younger than the Princess, more 
perhaps by reason of her greater vivacity and frol- 
icsome temperament than her actual looks. 

Sir Edward, as he escorted his fair companion 
from one apartment to the other, moving, as he 
was directed, in the most erratic manner, appar- 
ently without plan or purpose, found himself very 
much in the same predicament as once before dur- 
ing that evening, that is to say, conversing with 
one who was too preoccupied to heed what he 
said. The Comtesse’s eyes seemed to be every- 
where at once, now sweeping the whole length 
of a crowded room which they had just entered, 
now glancing searchingly into some remote cor- 
ner, and scanning the faces of those who occupied 
it, as if they afforded an absorbing subject of 
study. 

“Are you looking for some one, Comtesse?” 
Sir Edward asked at last, finding that all his court- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


181 


ly eloquence awoke no response. “Perhaps I can 
aid you.” 

The Comtesse looked up at him archly. 

“Am I tiring you, Sir Edward?” she said, quiet- 
ly ignoring his question. “I fear you find it 
troublesome ploughing your way through these 
crowded rooms.” 

Sir Edward knew how to interpret an answer, 
in whatever guise it came, and hastening to re- 
pudiate the notion that he could feel any fatigue 
under such enviable circumstances, he once more 
resumed his ungrateful task of entertaining a half- 
listening partner. 

“Is it true, Comtesse Renee,” he asked pres- 
ently, “that Princess Margaret has been taken 
ill to-night?” 

The Comtesse gave a little start of alarm. 

“The Princess?” she exclaimed, looking at him 
with an air of innocent surprise. 

“I heard it rumored that she had been seized 
with a sudden faintness, immediately after the 
royal polonaise, and had been obliged to with- 
draw to her apartments.” 

“If that were so, I must have heard it,” the 
Comtesse said. “I am not in attendance upon 
her Highness to-night, but — ^why, to be sure,” she 
exclaimed, “I have seen and spoken with the 
Princess within the last ten minutes. Sir Edward. 
People have been fabling.” 


184 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


cavalier, and stopped for an instant with a comic 
gesture of regretful apology. 

"‘I am dismissed, then, Comtesse,” Sir Edward 
said in a half-whisper, glancing meaningly at her 
new partner. 

‘‘Not dismissed. Sir Edward; only relieved,” 
she answered with a bewitching little smile; and 
the next moment she was gone. 

Sir Edward was still gazing after her with a 
perplexed air, when he felt a hand lightly laid 
upon his shoulder, and turning around saw Sir 
John Templeton standing beside him. 

“I believe you have something to say to me. Sir 
Edward,” he said. 

“I have indeed,” the Ambassador exclaimed 
with animation, linking his arm in that of the old 
diplomatist. 

“Then I am at your service,” Sir John said. 

And threading their way through the festive 
crowds, the two men went in quest of a con- 
venient corner where they could converse with- 
out fear of being interrupted. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


185 


CHAPTER IX. 

MENDING OF A TORN FLOUNCE OF LACE. 

Meanwhile the Comtesse Renee, on the arm of 
her newly chosen cavalier, had passed out of the 
room into the grand corridor where Doctor Hofer 
had stood earlier in the evening to watch the royal 
procession on its way to the ballroom. 

“Quick, through that door on the right!” the 
Comtesse whispered, accompanying her words 
with a slight pressure on the arm she was leaning 
upon. 

The Doctor obeyed silently, and steering for 
the spot indicated, passed swiftly through the 
door, which communicated with a short passage 
leading direct to the great entrance hall of the 
main building. Instead of traversing the hall, 
however, the Comtesse, now leading her com- 
panion, turned abruptly to the left on entering it, 
and passing along at the side of the grand stair- 
case, disappeared with him a minute later into a 
corridor at the back, which was curtained off from 
the hall, and guarded by an Imperial lackey, 
stationed there apparently to prevent the intru- 
sion of unprivileged visitors. 

The man bowed profoundly as the Comtesse ap- 
proached, and drew the curtain aside to let her 
and her escort pass. 


186 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


As it closed again behind them, the Comtesse 
gave a little sigh of relief, and momentarily slack- 
ened her pace. The stillness here was soothing 
and the coolness most refreshing after the rush 
and bustle in the heated rooms they had just left. 
The passage, which was carpeted with a thick pile 
of British manufacture, led, as Doctor Hofer 
knew, to what had once been the private apart- 
ments of the late Emperor Fritz. At its farther 
end it opened out into a kind of vestibule, from 
which a flight of stairs mounted to a similar vesti- 
bule on the first floor, with the aspect of which 
the reader is already familiar. 

As they approached these stairs. Doctor Hofer, 
who had not spoken a word since they started, 
turned his head and looked down inquiringly at 
his fair guide. 

“Will you tell me what is our destination, Com- 
tesse?” he said, in a voice which betrayed the 
speakers excitement. 

She looked up at him with a little moue. 

“We are going to get my gown mended, sir,” 
she said. “If you have anything to mend in the 
meanwhile, it would be well to lose no time about 
it. It will take my maid exactly fifteen minutes to 
readjust this strip of lace, and I can afford to wait 
no longer.” 

With these words she tripped lightly up the 
stairs, and Doctor Hofer followed with a quick- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


187 


beating heart. When she had reached the top 
step she paused until he was at her side again. 
Then, pointing straight in front of her, she whis- 
pered: 

‘The door opposite, which stands slightly ajar, 
leads to a room where you can wait for me. Doc- 
tor Hofer. I shall be here again in fifteen min- 
utes, and shall expert you to escort me back. Do 
not fail me.” 

And without stopping for him to reply, she 
hurried on and vanished into one of the numerous 
apartments that gave on to the vestibule. 

With a few quick strides Doctor Hofer had 
reached the door she had pointed out to him, and 
entering closed it noiselessly behind him. One 
glance around him, and a cry of pleasure escaped 
his lips. 

In the middle of the room, in an attitude of 
anxious expectancy, with her body slightly bent 
forward and her lips parted as if in dread or sus- 
pense, stood her Imperial Highness Princess Mar- 
garet of Brandenburg. A deep flush suffused her 
cheeks for an instant, and was followed by a pal- 
lor which seemed by contrast almost deeper still. 
But she did not stir when he entered. Attired 
as she was in her full ball costume of cream white 
and silver brocade, daintily trimmed with costly 
lace and lilies of the valley, she looked, as she 
stood out motionless against the background of 


188 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


green palms immediately behind her, like some 
fair creation of an artist’s imagination rather than 
a living being of flesh and blood. 

Doctor Hofer gazed upon her in silent admira- 
tion. 

“Margaret,” he murmured at last. 

The word came from his lips in a whisper only, 
but it caught her ear, and she raised her hand with 
an impulsive sweep, as if to expunge its unwel- 
come record. 

“Where is my brother. Doctor Georg Hofer?” 
she asked, in a low, stern voice. 

“God knows it, Princess. I do not know it,” 
he answered earnestly. 

“If you do not know it, who, then, shall know 
it?” she said coldly. 

He looked at her with a pained expression. 

“You believe me guilty. Princess,” he said, “of 
this hideous crime which the world imputes to 
me?” 

“Are you not the faithful servant of the Duke of 
Cumbermere?” she answered shortly. 

“I have never denied it,” he replied. 

“The Duke,” she went on, “is levying war — nay, 
not war, but black, treacherous rebellion— against 
the Emperor.” 

Doctor Hofer was silent. 

“Are you still his faithful friend. Doctor Hofer?” 
the Princess continued. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


189 


“If I am,” he answered slowly, “that does not 
prove that I would not give all I possess, my life 
itself — all. Princess,” he added, with sudden pas- 
sionate ardor, “save one thing alone, to see his 
Majesty safely back in his capital.” 

“You know, then, that the Emperor is in No- 
veria?” she asked, with a little gasp of dismay. 

“I fear it,” he answered sadly. 

“A captive in the hands of his bitterest foe, of 
him whom you serve and uphold?” she exclaimed 
with flashing eyes. “And you would have me 
believe that you are innocent of this shameful be- 
trayal of one who has loaded you with favors, who 
has trusted you and honored you, and made you 
his friend?” 

“Let me prove it. Princess,” Doctor Hofer re- 
plied. “Great God,” he cried, “were it under any 
circumstances conceivable that I could have lent 
my hand to this dastardly thing, can you, dare 
you, believe I would have done so knowing it 
would cost me that which I prize above all earthly 
things : the one sweet hope which has become the 
breath of life itself to me? Margaret,” he went 
on, seeing her tremble and half avert her head 
to hide the effect his passionate speech produced 
upon her, “I had hoped and prayed for this inter- 
view — not to plead my cause before the only 
tribunal whose sentence I dread — but for a pur- 
pose which you alone can aid me to achieve.” 


190 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“I?” the Princess exclaimed, turning to him 
with a start. “What is it? Speak!” 

He bent a look upon her full of proud, yet ten- 
der reproach. 

“If you really, truly believe me culpable of what 
would render me forever dishonored in men’s 
eyes. Princess,” he said, “it would be useless for 
me to name it. For the favor I have to crave you 
can grant only to one in whose faith and honor 
you place firm trust.” 

He waited for her response. But none came. 
She stood struggling with herself, and he watched 
the result, silently, expectantly. 

“Why are you not free. Doctor Hofer?” she 
said at last, in a softened tone. “You are here to- 
night but as a prisoner, to whom a brief respite 
has been granted. Can I believe that my brother 
suspects your loyalty without some just cause?” 

“Princess,” he said, “for that which the Em- 
peror has done he can account to himself alone. 
I know of no offense — save one— by which I may 
have forfeited his pleasure; and for that offense 
I will gladly answer before a whole world of Em- 
perors, so long as your lips do not condemn it.” 

“You are bold, too bold,” the Princess an- 
swered, with a tremor in her voice. “If I thought 
it possible that some mad desire of realizing a 
hope that can never be realized had misled you 
thus to cast truth and honor to the four winds and 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


191 


become a traitor to the brother who is dearer to 
me than my own happiness ” 

^‘Margaret,” he interrupted her once more, al- 
most sternly, “your lips utter what your heart 
does not believe.” 

“Disprove it, then,” she cried passionately. 
“Have I not a right, a sister’s right, to demand 
such proof? If you know the fate that has be- 
fallen the Emperor, you must know by what 
means he has been treacherously lured to it; and 
if you possess that knowledge ” 

“What if I do indeed possess it?” he broke in 
eagerly. “What if I have possessed it since last 
night. Princess, and am yet powerless to use it? 
Powerless for the want of one day’s freedom to 
act at will?” 

“Ah,” the Princess cried, stepping back with a 
look of cold suspicion, “is it this you have come 
to ask of me? To assist you to regain your lib- 
erty?” 

“If I thought it were in your power to procure 
it for me. Princess,” he replied, “I would not hesi- 
tate to ask it of you boldly. But I know it is not. 
All I desire is the means of communicating the 
knowledge I have gained to one who will use it 
as I cafinot use it.” 

“And how can I aid you in effecting such a 
purpose?” the Princess asked. 

“You can do so by consenting to dispatch this 


192 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


letter under your Imperial seal, Princess,” he 
answered, drawing a letter, as he spoke, from his 
breast pocket. “If I dared entrust it to the tender 
mercies of the Arminian post-office,” he went on, 
seeing her start back and change color, “or if I 
had one solitary friend upon whose faith and in- 
tegrity I could place reliance, I would not ask 
this favor of you. If you refuse it, nothing rests 
for me to do ” 

He stopped short. 

“But what?” the Princess asked. 

“But to suffer in silence. Princess, a wrong far 
greater even than that which his Majesty the Ar- 
minian Emperor has done me. I can say no 
more,” he continued. “My life, I know, and more 
than my life, is in peril, in grave hourly peril. 
But, by the love which governs my heart, and 
which I have sworn to live for — in spite of all ob- 
stacles, in spite even of your pride, Margaret, 
which is as sweet and precious to me as the love it 
would crush, yet contends with in vain — I swear 
that I would willingly yield up that life, if by sac- 
rificing it I could undo what I believe has been 
done, basely, treacherously, indeed, but without 
my knowledge or connivance.” 

“But how can you hope to undo it?” the Prin- 
cess said. “Can you bring life and liberty to an- 
other, you who are yourself deprived of liberty 
and in imminent peril. For you are in peril,” she 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


193 


added, clasping her hands with sudden despera- 
tion. “I know it, I know it too well.” 

“I know not what may be in my power to do,” 
he answered. “But rest assured, if anything can 
be done, this letter, and nothing else in the world, 
will accomplish it. Ah, the folly of it!” he broke 
out. “Could I only have dreamed of this! The 
Emperor, in depriving me of my freedom, has 
unwittingly constituted me, not his prisoner. 
Princess, but his jailer.” 

“His jailer?” she murmured, looking at him 
with an expression full of bewilderment. 

“You cannot understand me,” he said. “But 
you can believe me — you alone. Princess. Mar- 
garet,” he continued in a soft, appealing voice, 
“I ask you to trust me, nothing more. Can you 
see me look into your eyes thus, and believe me 
capable of wronging you, my Princess? Is there 
no memory left of that one precious moment 
when those eyes made confession to me of that 
which your lips would fain have denied? I treas- 
ure that memory and revere it as my costliest pos- 
session, Margaret; nor shall I cease to treasure it 
until I hold what will render it more than a mem- 
ory: an abiding fulfillment of the hope it prom- 
ised.” 

There was a ring of proud assurance in his 
voice which thrilled her. Yet it awoke no re- 
sponding emotion in her own breast. She knew 


194 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


she had given her heart to this man, but she knew 
also that she had done so without that hope and 
faith which render the gift a gain to the giver. 
She had wrestled with her pride and her sense of 
duty, and had not conquered them. Alas, it had 
not needed the stern fiat of the Emperor to blast 
her hope of future happiness. That hope had not 
survived its birth; nay, it had been still-born. 

“Why remind me of that which is best forgot- 
ten,” she said in a low, almost plaintive voice, 
which tried to be calm, and failed. “Have I not 
suffered enough for this one moment of weak 
folly?” 

“Suffered, Princess?” he said. “Suffered since 
when? Since this cruel suspicion entered your 
heart, poisoning its faith in him who has won it 
— ay, won it, Margaret, for all you may say to the 
contrary, won it where the greatest of the earth, 
suing in all their power and glory and splendor, 
have failed to win it. That is my pride. Princess, 
and I would not part with it for the most coveted 
crown in Christendom. Would I then deceive 
you in that which I know to be nearest and dearest 
to you? You do not believe it, you have never be- 
lieved it.” 

Something like a tear glistened in the 
girPs eyes, and she turned away, afraid of her own 
weakness. He spoke the truth, and she knew it. 
Had she, indeed, ever really doubted him? The 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


195 


proud, fearless tone she loved so well, the manly 
dignity, and the simple ease of his bearing towards 
her, which contrasted so favorably with the air 
of humble deference, the constrained respect she 
was accustomed to meet with from all who ap- 
proached her, which had, as it were, bridged over 
the immeasurable distance that separated her, the 
royal daughter of Brandenburg, from this obscure 
son of a Noverian chaplain; could it be a mere 
outward veneer, hiding a soul as base and treach- 
erous as mind can conceive? 

There was a soft tapping at the door, which 
gave warning that the time was flying. Doctor 
Hofer heard the sound, and knew its meaning. 
Comtesse Renee was waiting, and there was dan- 
ger in further delay. 

“Princess,” he said softly. “My time is spent. 
Have I pleaded in vain?” 

She turned, and looked full into his eyes. 

“Go,” she murmured. “Heaven forgive me if 
I do wTong to trust you.” 

He bent low, and raising her hand to his lips, 
kissed it with silent passion. 

“And the letter?” he said. 

“Oh, no, no,” she cried, shrinking back with 
an air of sudden repugnance. “Not to me. The 
Comtesse will take it. You may trust her; it will 
be safest in her hands.” 


196 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

The door opened, and Comtesse Renee looked 
in. 

^‘For heaven’s sake,” she whispered, “delay no 
longer. You will ruin everything.” 

Doctor Hofer hesitated an instant, as if there 
were something he had still left unspoken. But 
the Princess motioned him anxiously to leave her, 
and resigning himself, he bowed and withdrew 
in silence. 

As the door closed behind him and the Com- 
tesse, the Princess dropped wearily on to an ot- 
toman, and sat there long with clasped hands, 
gazing dreamily into the space before her. 

Had she done right? She knew not. She only 
knew that she had followed her heart’s instinct; 
and if that had lied to her, what would the rest 
matter? 


CHAPTER X. 

A FATEFUL LETTER. 

The reappearance of Doctor Georg Hofer 
among the company below had meanwhile been 
watched for by more than one person with con- 
siderable anxiety. The Empress’ unexpected 
commands that he should attend the state ball had 
placed those entrusted with his safe custody. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


197 


which recent events had rendered almost an af- 
fair of national importance, in a position of some 
embarrassment. There was nothing in the Em- 
peror’s order to prevent his secretary from par- 
taking in whatsoever pleasures, social or other- 
wise, he might feel an inclination for, provided 
only that he was under no circumstances per- 
mitted to quit the capital. Indeed, his Majesty 
had expressly commanded that Doctor Hofer 
should receive all the consideration due to one 
holding his much-envied office. 

It was this which made the responsibility rest- 
ing upon those concerned with his charge pecul- 
iarly harassing, and the sense of relief they felt 
when his tall, manly figure once more became con- 
spicuous among her Majesty’s guests was pro- 
portionately great. 

The Comtesse Renee was keenly alive to the 
discomfiture her absence had occasioned, and she 
enjoyed it with mischievous relish. Yet, with all 
her love of romantic adventure, combined as it 
was with a spirit of mischief which would have 
done credit to the immortal Puck himself, the 
Comtesse had by no means lightheartedly under- 
taken the task she had just brought to a success- 
ful issue. She knew its perilous nature far too 
well. 

While the excitement lasted, it had afforded 
her a certain pleasure; when it was over, a reac- 


198 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tion set in, and she felt the need of a few moments’ 
quiet and seclusion, to recover herself, perhaps, 
too, to ponder at leisure over the sequel by which 
the interview she had been the means of bringing 
about had been followed. 

Alas, for the little Comtesse! She had hardly 
selected a suitable spot for her musings — a win- 
dow niche in one of the rooms overlooking the 
terrace, and too far from the ballroom to be 
much frequented — when she was disturbed in a 
manner she had little dreamed of. 

She was sitting half concealed behind the cur- 
tain which hung before the window recess, 
dreamily drinking in the cool air which came in 
breezily through the open casement, when she 
became aware of someone approaching her, and 
heard herself addressed by a familiar voice. 

Looking up with a slight start she saw Sir Ed- 
ward Hammer standing beside her, and close be- 
hind him a personage whose countenance was 
unknown to her. 

“Pardon the intrusion, Comtesse,” Sir Edward 
said blandly. “Sir John Templeton is desirous 
of a few minutes’ conversation with you. May I 
commend him to your kind notice? He has an 
important favor to ask of you.” 

And without awaiting her reply he bowed, and 
retired, leaving her alone with the stranger. 

There was something in the manner of the in- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROH. 190 

troduction, and in the grave tone with which it 
was accompanied, that sent a slight chill to the 
heart of the little Comtesse. She knew Sir John 
Templeton’s name, if not his face, and a faint ap- 
prehension seized her as she thought of a possible 
connection between his appearance at this particu- 
lar moment and the occurrences of the last half 
hour. 

“I shall be very pleased to be of service to a 
friend of Sir Edward Hammer’s,” she said, half 
rising in response to Sir John’s profound bow. 
“What favor is it that you have to ask of me, Sir 
John Templeton?” 

“The same favor, Comtesse,” he replied, in the 
most ordinary of tones, “that you have just be- 
stowed upon Doctor Georg Hofer; that of pro- 
curing me an interview with her Imperial High- 
ness Princess Margaret.” 

The Comtesse sprang up as if electrified. The 
suddenness of it all took her speech away. 

“Do not be alarmed, Comtesse,” Sir John went 
on, in his gentle, reassuring way. “I was perfect- 
ly well aware that this meeting was to take place. 
But it is imperative that I should see the Princess 
at once. Will you conduct me to her?” 

The Comtesse stared at him with wide eyes. 
But she had now regained something of her usual 
self-possession, and replied with a little laugh. 

“What you ask is impossible, Sir John Tern- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


pleton. I am not privileged to grant interviews 
with the Princess without first obtaining her High- 
ness’ consent.” 

“That is a pity,” Sir John said; “for in that case 
I shall be obliged to obtain the desired interview 
by applying direct to her Majesty the Empress; 
a step which, for the Princess’ sake, I would have 
gladly avoided.” 

“The Empress?” Comtesse Renee exclaimed, 
turning pale. “Do you mean ” 

She stopped short, and continued after a mo- 
ment: 

“For what purpose do you wish to see the Prin- 
cess?” 

“That, Comtesse,” Sir John replied, looking at 
her steadily, “is perhaps hardly a fair question. 
But I will tell you. I merely desire to obtain pos- 
session of a letter which Doctor Hofer has just 
confided to her Imperial Highness’ keeping.” 

The Comtesse sank back into her seat with a 
scared expression. 

“The letter?” she murmured. 

A quick flash of intelligence lighted up Sir 
John’s face. 

“Ah, Comtesse,” he said, “that, of course, al- 
ters the matter. Since this letter is in your hands, 
it will not be necessary for me to trouble her Im- 
perial Highness. You will give me the letter.” 

“Sir,” exclaimed the girl. “This is pure inso- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


201 


lence. I have no letter. And if I had, by what 
right do you claim what is not yours?” 

“By a right which it would take too long to 
explain to you, Comtesse,” he answered. “But 
rest assured that it is a right which Princess Mar- 
garet would be the first to recognize and respect.” 

“Then claim the letter of her,” the Comtesse 
said pertly, with a flash of defiance in her blue 
eyes. 

“When I know that you hold it, Comtesse?” 
he rejoined, with a smile. “It will take less time, 
and cause less trouble, to claim it from her Maj- 
esty the Empress, which I shall certainly do with- 
out a moment^s delay, unless you comply with my 
request. Believe me, Comtesse,” he added, quiet- 
ly, “I mean to have this letter. Will it ease your 
mind to know that my only purpose in obtaining 
it is to return it to the person who wrote it?” 

“Why?” 

“Because it will be safer in his hands than in 
yours.” 

“Then I can return it to him myself,” the Com- 
tesse said quickly. 

“Doubtless. But I have my reasons for desir- 
ing to undertake the task myself.” 

“You intend to acquaint yourself with its con- 
tents,” the Comtesse exclaimed. 

“You are mistaken, Comtesse. I know its con- 
tents.” 


202 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


‘^You know them?” 

'‘As well, I think, as if I had written the letter 
myself.” 

The Comtesse was puzzled. To yield up this 
letter, which had been entrusted to her on be- 
half of her Imperial mistress, and for the safe dis- 
patch of which she had solemnly answered, 
seemed a base betrayal of a sacred charge, and a 
crime against the Princess herself. Yet what 
could she do? The man who stood before her 
was obviously as stern of resolve as he was courtly 
in speech. 

She tried all the wiles she could think of to es- 
cape from the cruel dilemma in which she was 
placed. But Sir John Templeton proved invul- 
nerable. He remained polite but firm. 

Tears of anger rose to the girPs eyes. 

“My God,” she exclaimed, “what shall I do?” 

“I grieve to distress you so deeply, Comtesse,” 
Sir John said kindly. “But I cannot act other- 
wise. Let it console you to know that you can at 
this moment render no greater service to Princess 
Margaret than by doing as I bid you.” 

“But what can I say to her? How shall I ex- 
plain ” 

“Tell her Imperial Highness what I have said to 
you,” he answered. “It will suffice.” 

“You are inflexible, then?” the Comtesse asked, 
with a sudden gleam of resolution in her eye. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


203 


have no other choice,” he replied. 

“Then I at least have another choice,” she cried, 
stepping back; “and I will take it.” 

And with a swift movement she snatched the 
letter from her bosom, and grasping it for an in- 
stant with both her hands, stood defiantly before 
him. 

“You can force me to deliver up this letter. Sir 
John Templeton,” she said, in a dry, disdainful 
voice. “But you cannot prevent me from first 
tearing it into fragments.” 

“I shall certainly not prevent you, Comtesse,” 
he rejoined, without stirring, “because it will not 
be necessary for me to do so.” 

“You mean ” 

“I mean that you will give me the letter intact. 
You forget that my intention is to restore it to 
its rightful owner, and I desire to place it in his 
hands unopened.” 

His simple tone of quiet assurance baffled her, 
and she stood irresolute. 

“Will you now give me the letter, Comtesse?” 
he said. 

He held out his hand, and slowly, almost me- 
chanically, she placed the letter in it. Then, with 
a hysterical sob, she sank back into her seat, and 
covered her pretty little face with both her hands. 

Old Sir John stood for an instant regarding her 
with an expression of kindly pity. 


204 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

''Comtesse,” he said, touching her arm softly, 
"‘in a quarter of an hour, if you so desire, you can 
learn from Doctor Hofer^s own lips that I have 
spoken the truth, and that the man to whom you 
have delivered this letter is his friend.” 

When she looked up he was gone. 

Two minutes later Sir John Templeton was 
swiftly making his way towards the winter gar- 
den adjoining the palace terrace. A startling 
change had come over his countenance. The soft, 
kindly light that had shone in his eyes when he 
left the Comtesse Renee von Seckendorf had van- 
ished, and a stern, angry look had taken its place. 

^‘The fools,” he murmured, as he glanced ever 
and anon contemplatively at the cover of the let- 
ter he held in his hand. “To have concealed this 
from me! Was it crass stupidity or design?” 

The address on the letter was harmless enough ; 
or, at least, it was apparently not such as could 
have caused its present possessor much surprise. 
The envelope, in fact, was directed to her Imperial 
Highness Princess Margaret of Brandenburg, 
and it was not difficult to detect that it covered 
another sealed letter inside. Doctor Hofer, as 
will be readily conceived, had not been able to 
foresee that the opportunity would be afforded 
him of holding private converse with the Princess; 
all he had dared to hope had been that he would 
succeed in contriving some means during the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


205 


evening of conveying his request to her in writ- 
ing, either direct, or through the medium of the 
Comtesse Renee. 

Notwithstanding, harmless as it appeared, it 
was plainly evident that there was something 
about this letter which had deeply impressed Sir 
John Templeton, and it was not until he entered 
the winter garden that his brow relaxed, and his 
face resumed its usual serene and tranquil ex- 
pression. 

The huge conservatory, owing to the close and 
somewhat vapory atmosphere which prevailed 
there, was not a spot to attract loungers at this 
season, and save for one or two solitary couples, 
whose desire for solitude outweighed the discom- 
forts of a heightened temperature, and the few 
passers who used this means of egress to the cool 
terrace beyond, the place was almost deserted. 

Sir John Templeton had scarcely advanced 
more than half a dozen yards along the middle 
walk when a tall figure emerged swiftly from a 
side path and confronted him. It was Doctor 
Georg Hofer. 

Sir John Templeton stopped. 

“I trust I have not kept you waiting. Doctor 
Hofer,^^ he said. “The delay has not been entirely 
of my making.” 

“I have come here at the request of his Ex- 
cellency Sir Edward Hammer,” Doctor Hofer 


206 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

said stiffly, ignoring the old gentleman’s courteous 
apology. “I understand from him that you have 
a communication of importance to make to me. 
What is it?” 

The tone was distant and haughty. But Sir 
John appeared not to notice it. 

“It is merely to return to your hands a letter,” 
he said, “which I believe at this present juncture 
is better there than in the custody of the Arminian 
post-office officials, even though entrusted to 
them under the seal of her Imperial Highness 
Princess Margaret of Brandenburg.” 

Doctor Hofer stood for an instant speechless, 
astonishment and anger depicted in his face. Then 
something like an expression of despair swept 
across it, and he said in a hard, toneless voice: 

“You have intercepted this letter, then. By 
what means?” 

“By the simplest,” Sir John Templeton replied. 
“I asked for it.” 

“And you know to whom it is addressed?” 

“I know to whom it is not addressed. Doctor 
Georg Hofer,” Sir John answered, looking him 
steadily in the face. 

“You have read it?” 

In lieu of replying Sir John handed him the 
letter in silence. He seized it eagerly, and a sigh 
of relief escaped his lips, as he observed that the 
seal was intact. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


207 


‘‘Why have you done this?” he asked, abruptly. 

“To prevent a catastrophe greater than that 
which this letter was designed to avert,” Sir John 
replied. 

Doctor Hofer glanced once more quickly at 
the letter, and back again to the speaker. 

“You tell me this, and yet you pretend not 
to have gained knowledge of its contents?” he 
said, in a tone of angry suspicion. 

“Why should I pretend?” Sir John rejoined. 
“It is a knowledge I do not require. It is suf- 
ficient for me to know, what indeed the merest 
child would have divined, that this letter contains 
an enclosure of an important nature, which it was 
your purpose to convey to Noveria.” 

“Well?” 

“The means you adopted for its transmission 
were singularly ill chosen. You could scarcely 
have devised a surer method of placing the Ar- 
minian Government in possession of that knowl- 
edge which you have been so anxious to conceal 
from them than by transmitting it under the royal 
seal of a daughter of the House of Brandenburg.” 

“They would dare to tamper with her Imperial 
Highness’ correspondence?” Doctor Hofer ex- 
claimed. 

“They would assuredly dare what they have 
dared before, and that upon more slender grounds. 
We are not living in ordinary times. Extraordi- 


208 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


nary circumstances may justify extraordinary 
measures.” 

^‘Measures which it seems you have thought fit 
to thwart.” 

"‘In this instance, yes.” 

“You have chosen a curious method of serving 
the Government that trusts you,” the Doctor said, 
with a curl of his lip. 

“I have chosen this means of serving you. Doc- 
tor Georg Hofer,” Sir John Templeton retorted. 
“Is it possible that you have not considered what 
would be the fate of the sender of that letter, if 
those into whose hands it would be certain to fall 
were to share the belief that prompted him in 
writing it?” 

Doctor Hofer shot a quick, searching glance at 
the speaker, who, however, went on without heed- 
ing it: 

“That belief I know to be erroneous. The Em- 
peror Willibald is not in the hands you think him 
in. Doctor Hofer.” 

“You speak with great assurance,” the Doctor 
replied. “It is a pity your knowledge does not 
enable you to say what has become of his Maj- 
esty.” 

“I shall know even that,” Sir John answered, 
“before the world is a few hours older.” 

The stern tone of his words startled his listener 
more than the assertion they conveyed. But be- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


209 


fore he could reply Sir John Templeton resumed 
his usual manner. 

“I repeat, we are not living in ordinary times. 
I warned you to take no step to-night without first 
consulting me. My first warning was intercepted ; 
my second must have reached you. You have 
disregarded it. But, whether you acknowledge 
the service I have rendered you or not, of this 
you may rest assured: had this letter been posted 
it would never have reached the hands of the per- 
sonage for whom it was intended.” 

“What do you know of this personage?” Doc- 
tor Hofer asked, darting another quick look of 
suspicion at the speaker. 

Sir John Templeton paused deliberately before 
he answered. 

“I know this, sir, that the personage to whom 
the inclosure in this letter is addressed is not his 
Royal Highness the Duke of Cumbermere.” 

There was a moment’s silence, during which 
the two men stood regarding each other fixedly. 
But the name pronounced by Sir John Temple- 
ton seemed to have produced a strong effect upon 
the Doctor. He crunched the letter fiercely in 
his hand, and something of the desperate expres- 
sion which had settled on his face when he first 
learned of its interception swept over it once more. 

“Ah, this is insufferable,” he murmured at last. 
“Come what may, I will make an end of this 


210 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

doubt and suspense. You have made it your ob- 
ject to thwart and foil me, Sir John Templeton 
to what end I know not,’’ he went on in a firm 
tone. '‘But there is still one means left, which 
even you cannot prevent me from employing, to 
open the eyes of his Majesty’s advisers to that 
which I alone can see. Since none other will 
avail, I will employ it. The Imperial Chancellor 
will not deny me a hearing.” 

He turned away abruptly, and the next mo- 
ment he would have gone. But Sir John Temple- 
ton was at his side in an instant, and detained him. 

"One word. Doctor Georg Hofer,” he said, “be- 
fore you do that which may be irreparable. 
Doubtless you will have no difficulty in obtain- 
ing a hearing of his Excellency the Imperial Chan- 
cellor. Grant heaven, he may not believe what 
you tell him. If he does ” 

“If he does?” 

“If he does,” Sir John went on, “the conse- 
quences be upon your head. It is not I, believe 
me, but you who are blind — blind to the friendship 
of the man who is serving you and blind to the 
folly of an act which would have been more than 
venturesome three weeks ago, but will now of a 
certainty be fatal.” 

“Fatal? Pshaw!” Doctor Hofer exclaimed 
impatiently. “To whom — the Emperor?” 

“Not to the Emperor, sir, but to one whose life 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


211 


is at this moment as precious to his Majesty as 
that of his own flesh and blood, and to save whom 
from the fate you would blindly invoke he would 
sacrifice — perhaps even the kingdom of Noveria 
itself.” 

Doctor Hofer gazed at him in astonishment. 

“To whom do you refer?” he asked. 

Sir John glanced cautiously around him. Then, 
bringing his lips close to his companion's ear, he 
whispered a few words into it. 

The effect was extraordinary. Doctor Hofer 
staggered back as if he had been struck by a 
bullet. At the same moment a female figure en- 
tered the winter garden, and advanced quickly 
toward the spot where they were standing. 

It was the Comtesse Renee von Seckendorf. 

As she recognized the old diplomatist she 
stopped abruptly within a few feet of the two men, 
and looked from one to the other with an air of 
mingled alarm and confusion. Sir John Temple- 
ton greeted her with a courtly bow, and, casting a 
significant look in the direction of his companion, 
drew back without a word and passed out of the 
garden by the same door through which the 
Comtesse had just entered. 

Once more traversing the crowded reception 
rooms, where the festivity — if the term is not mis- 
applied — ^was still in full progress, he made his 


212 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


way swiftly to the grand entrance, and two min- 
utes later had left the palace. 

Meanwhile Comtesse Renee stood looking 
with a troubled expression at the pale and dis- 
turbed face of Doctor Georg Hofer. Sir John 
Templeton^s parting words, when he left her with 
the ill-fated letter in his hands, had filled her with 
a vague hope that after all everything would be 
well. What she had just witnessed caused her 
heart to misgive her again. 

‘'Is the letter safe?” she asked at length in an 
anxious whisper. “Has he returned it to you?” 

Doctor Hofer nodded affirmatively. He was 
still struggling to regain his self-possession. 

“Who is this extraordinary man?” the Com- 
tesse asked. “And how did he know ” 

Doctor Hofer turned quickly, and laid his hand 
on her arm. 

“It is useless to discuss this, Comtesse,” he 
said. “What he knows he knows. How or 
whence he obtained that knowledge who shall 
say? It is his, and better his, I think, than an- 
other’s.” 

He added the last words in a subdued tone, re- 
flectively. 

“You trust him, then?” the Comtesse inquired 
with some surprise. 

“He is a friend,” he answered shortly. 

Although her curiosity was sorely piqued. Com- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


213 


tesse Renee recognized that further questions 
would be useless. She had been driven hither by 
her anxiety to assure herself that Sir John Temple- 
ton had really not deceived her, and, having sat- 
isfied herself of the safety of the letter, she was 
just as anxious to escape again with the least 
possible delay. To prolong the interview, after 
the incidents that had preceded it, was, she well 
knew, undesirable — not on her own account, for 
she herself cared little for the gossip of evil 
tongues, but for the sake of her Imperial mistress, 
whom her presence here might compromise by 
implication. 

Doctor Hofer was so much wrapped in himself 
that the Comtesse was gone before he noticed 
that she had turned away and left him, and he 
only bowed in a half-conscious, mechanical way 
as she swept along toward the door by which she 
had entered a few minutes before. 

For some time he remained alone in the win- 
ter garden, plunged apparently in deep and en- 
grossing thought. When he once more mixed 
with the company in the palace, the expression 
in his face was again stern and haughty, and all 
trace of the unusual agitation which had recently 
possessed him was gone. 







THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


215 


THIRD BOOK. 

THE REVELATION. 


CHAPTER XL 
ARNOLDSHAUSEN. 

There are many estates in Brandenburg more 
magnificent than Arnoldshausen, but none more 
prettily situated. The village itself, which forms 
part of the domain, lies in a quiet valley opening 
out in the west onto a vast plain that stretches 
hence, almost without break or undulation, to 
the range of diminutive hills behind which the 
great city of Berolingen lies sheltered, a distance 
of over thirty miles. On the brow of the hill 
above the village stands the Mansion, a building 
of some antiquity, with its quaint turrets, verdi- 
grised with age, gleaming out between the green 
tops of the trees that conceal the main structure 
from view. It had been in the possession of the 
Von Arnolds, who were originally a Brandenburg 
family, for the better part of two centuries. But 


216 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


it had rarely happened that one of its proprietors 
had honored the estate by selecting it, even tem- 
porarily, as his residence; certainly not within 
the living memory of the present villagers. 

Consequently, when the news reached them that 
the young Baron had decided to take up his abode 
in the old place, it caused a flutter of excitement 
in the little hamlet such as it had scarcely ever ex- 
perienced. The villagers were simple, hard-toil- 
ing folk, who depended for their knowledge of the 
outer world and its doings upon such scraps of 
news as occasionally reached them from this or 
that absent member of the younger male commu- 
nity who happened to be serving his regulation 
three years^ term in the Imperial army. News- 
papers were a rare curiosity to them, to be pas- 
sively admired as a marvel of human ingenuity 
rather than actively studied as a source of profit- 
able information. The nearest town was three 
miles off, and as it was seldom visited except on 
grand market days, on the occasion of the annual 
fair, and once or twice during the year, perhaps, 
by some of the more enterprising spirits among 
them on a particularly fine Sunday afternoon, it 
contributed little to the enriching of their knowl- 
edge and general intelligence beyond temporarily 
widening the tiny circle of their ideas and in- 
terests. 

The re-entry of the lord of the soil upon his 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


217 


long-vacated property had been followed by vari- 
ous changes round about them, only not in the 
direction which I have particularized; nor were 
these changes altogether such as met with their 
unqualified approval. In fact, to say the truth, 
they had been somewhat disappointed in the 
young Baron. So long as the estate had been 
the property of the crown of Brandenburg, to 
which it had fallen by forfeit, together with the 
rest of the Arnold estates, in the fateful year 1866, 
the villagers had been obliged to prefer what- 
ever petitions or complaints they had to make to 
the Crown Steward by written documents drawn 
up and executed in the officially prescribed form ; 
a process wearisome in itself, and especially dis- 
heartening to men whose wants and grievances 
rose readily enough to their lips, but became ex- 
tremely puzzling when required to be put in due 
shape and form on a piece of official parchment. 

The advent of an individual landlord, visible 
in the flesh and accessible in person, should, they 
thought, have relieved them of this grave and 
long-standing difficulty. But, young though he 
was, and ever ready to listen to whatever his de- 
pendents had to bring before him, Baron Fred- 
erick von Arnold was by no means the man to 
grant off-hand what they chose to request of him, 
nor to rest content with the mere verbal assurance 
that matters were exactly as they pleased to repre- 


218 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


sent them to him. He had proved, in short, as 
inexorable in regard to the formality of document- 
ary procedure as the Crown Steward himself, and, 
while his personal relations with his people were 
characterized on his side by great affability and 
solicitude for their well-being and prosperity, 
they really left the village very much in the same 
position as it had been in before, which, by the 
way, was a tolerably fair one. 

This circumstance, then, met with their disap- 
probation. But there was another which perhaps 
troubled them even more. The Baron’s presence 
at the Mansion had not been attended by any ap- 
preciable increase in the intercourse between the 
Arnoldshausen domain and the estates of the 
neighboring gentry. Some few of the surround- 
ing landed proprietors had called at the Mansion, 
but it had been invariably when Baron Frederick 
was absent inspecting his Noverian possessions, 
which had generally been the case before he 
brought his young wife home, and as none of 
these calls had been returned, these attempts at 
establishing visiting relations were soon discon- 
tinued. 

On the other hand, however, the village ap- 
peared to have become a center of attraction to 
gentry of quite another description, whose undis- 
guised interest in the owner of the property and 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


219 


his doings was a source of much speculation on 
the part of the inhabitants. 

Who these strangers were, and what prompted 
their inquisitive proceedings, no one was able to 
say. But they were looked upon with strong sus- 
picion, which was increased by the fact that Herr 
von Arnold had issued strict orders to the village 
elders enjoining them to make daily reports at 
the Mansion, giving a description of every stran- 
ger who passed through the village and stating 
the nature of every question and inquiry such 
passer made with reference to the inmates of the 
Mansion. These orders were duly obeyed. But 
they were felt to be unusual and irksome. 

It is not to be supposed for an instant that the 
villagers of Arnoldshausen, who were loyal Bran- 
denburgers and faithful subjects of their sover- 
eign, would under any circumstances have coun- 
tenanced in their very midst proceedings of a char- 
acter inimical to the interests of the Empire of 
which they formed an infinitesimal part. But if 
anything could have induced them to wink at 
doubtful loyalty on the part of their more imme- 
diate lord it would have been the circumstance 
that he was thus spied upon by officious nonde- 
scripts, whose suspicions, if they were such, were 
in their opinion a direct insult to the Emperor 
who had restored him to his own. They resented 
this espionage, and regarded it as an imputation 


220 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


Upon their own credit and honor. To their 
minds the Von Arnolds, in spite of their long con- 
nection with Noveria — a connection of which the 
good village folk had but a very hazy and con- 
fused notion — were sterling Brandenburg stock, 
and hence above all debasing suspicion. They 
had never quite understood the reason for the 
expulsion of the family from a soil which had 
been theirs ever since the remote dark ages, 
which to the folk of Arnoldshausen meant any 
period that transcended the memory of the oldest 
member of the community. In short, the rights 
of the case had always seemed extremely doubtful 
to them, and they had regarded the sudden rein- 
statement of the young Baron much in the light 
of a tardy recognition of this fact on the part of 
the sovereign whose ancestor had arbitrarily ex- 
propriated him. 

In view of this state of feeling it is scarcely a 
matter for surprise that the information obtained 
in the village regarding Baron von Arnold, his 
mode of living, the visitors he received, and other 
suchlike details, by those whose curiosity tended 
that way, was of a very limited kind, and, even 
such as it was, very grudgingly bestowed. Lat- 
terly, although the number of strange faces to be 
seen in the vicinity of the estate had by no means 
decreased, the inquiries in the village had almost 
ceased; probably because the inquirers recognized 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


221 


the futility of pursuing their investigations in this 
direction. 

It caused quite a little stir, therefore, among 
the villagers when early one morning a postchaise 
from Friedrichsdorf, the nearest station town, 
drew up before the humble inn at the entrance to 
the village, and mine host was summoned forth 
to reply to a few queries addressed to him by its 
occupant. 

Mine host was as surly a devil as may be met 
with on a fine summers day either in this or any 
other part of the world, and he came forth pre- 
pared to polish off the newcomer in his usual 
curt and defiant fashion. But he reckoned this 
time, to transpose a homely phrase, without his 
guest. 

The questions put to him by the stranger were 
few, short, and precise, and the manner of the 
man who put them was unmistakably one that 
commanded respect. Moreover, there was noth- 
ing about them to rouse feelings of resentment 
in the most sensitive of breasts, although they un- 
doubtedly gave rise to a certain amount of bovine 
surprise on the part of the worthy innkeeper. 

The first inquiry the latter was called upon to 
answer was as to whether the Mansion could be 
reached more quickly on foot than by the car- 
riage drive which wound round the hill. Learn- 
ing that, if one knew the way, the distance on 


222 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


foot through the wood was shorter by fifteen 
minutes than the drive round the hill, the stran- 
ger leaped from the chaise and delivered a series 
of sharp, short questions as to this quicker route 
w'hich fairly bowled mine host over. 

“Can you provide me with a trustworthy guide 
the stranger asked, cutting short the man’s con- 
fused explanations. 

Mine host scratched his head, and then, beck- 
oning to a youth standing among the small group 
of gaping women and children who had gathered 
in the road near by, intimated that he was one 
whose knowledge of the locality might safely be 
trusted. 

“But,” he added, “if you have any message for 
the Baron you may as well save yourself the trou- 
ble of climbing up the hill. He sees no one, 
unless he knows him.” 

This was said in a tone implying a query, to 
which, however, the stranger, who was already 
preparing to start off with his newly-acquired 
guide, made no reply. 

“Maybe,” the host continued, tentatively, “a 
note or a message left with me would do as well, 
and be likely to reach the Baron all the sooner.” 

“Does Herr von Arnold usually visit the village 
in the morning?” the stranger asked, turning 
suddenly. 

The man shook his head, and smiled as if to 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


223 


say, “If you can’t understand me, it’s not my duty 
to say any more.” But he made no audible reply. 

The stranger glanced at him for a moment 
keenly, then turned on his heel, and, accompa- 
nied by the youth, proceeded at a brisk pace along 
the road toward the hill beyond the village. 

The chaise remained behind to await his return, 
and mine host, having seemingly no better occu- 
pation, fell into conversation with the driver, 
whom he treated to a bumper of small beer and 
sundry other delicacies, which, seeing that his fare 
had given no authority for the display of such 
magnificent hospitality, astonished the recipient 
most agreeably. 

Mine host, it may be mentioned, was one of 
the village elders, and among the duties that had 
recently fallen to his lot was that of reporting at 
the Mansion as accurately as his intellectual means 
would permit whatever information he could 
elicit as to the objects and intentions of those who 
passed through the village or honored it with 
their presence in a more permanent manner; 
from which it may be gathered that, if Baron 
Frederick von Arnold was subjected to a species 
of espionage, he apparently retaliated in kind. 

Yet there was nothing in the aspect of the Man- 
sion, or in that of its owner, as he sat that morning 
with his young bride on the beautiful garden ter- 
race overlooking the green valley below, which 


224 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


could have led anyone to suppose that apprehen- 
sions of a serious kind were entertained regarding 
the security of the one or the safety of the other. 
A more frank and fearless countenance than that 
of the young Baron it would be impossible to 
find. There was at this moment, it is true, a 
shade of anxiety upon it, which seemed to grow 
deeper as his eyes rested ever and anon question- 
ingly upon the somewhat pensive features of his 
beautiful companion. But it detracted in no way 
from the manly openness which characterized it; 
on the contrary, it rather set it off in more striking 
relief. 

The Baroness Marie von Arnold, once Demoi- 
selle Hofer, the sister of the man on whom so 
many grave suspicions now rested, bore a strong 
resemblance to her brother. Her beauty was of 
that rare kind which is beyond all question of in- 
dividual taste and opinion. An artist would have 
pronounced it perfect, a type in itself of absolute 
feminine loveliness. But it required no sense of 
artistic perfection in the beholder to enable him to 
appreciate, at a glance almost, the full power of 
its exceptional charm. Indeed, all the art in the 
world could never have succeeded either in fixing 
it upon canvas or revealing it by any other method 
of artistic reproduction. Like a beautiful land- 
scape over which the traveling summer clouds, 
alternating with the bright and brilliant sunlit 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


225 


sky, cast innumerable hues of light and shade, 
and reveal at every moment some fresh, un- 
dreamed-of charm and beauty, its aspect was for- 
ever changing and remained forever new. It 
was here that the likeness between the brother 
and sister ceased. The features were the same, 
indeed, but it was the sameness of form only, such 
as may be seen to exist between a shape hewn 
out of hard, cold granite and its counterpart exe- 
cuted in the softest and warmest of marble. The 
commanding brow, the large, startlingly expres- 
sive eyes, and the proud, dignified poise of the 
head — none of these peculiarities were missing. 
But they were blended with such infinite feminine 
grace as to give them a stamp entirely their own. 

One would have thought that upon a creature 
of such surpassing loveliness life could have be- 
stowed nothing but smiles. And yet there was 
that in the expression on her fair face at this mo- 
ment which told of some hidden unrest, some 
haunting care agitating her spirit. There was a 
curiously apprehensive look in her eyes as they 
wandered dreamily over the green expanse of the 
valley beneath her, and the nervous play of the 
slender white fingers that rested idly upon the 
terrace balustrade beside her betokened a mind 
harassed and at war with itself. 

Presently she became conscious that her hus- 


226 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


band’s gaze was upon her, and she turned her 
head with a start and a half-smile. 

He rose and stood beside her, placing his hand 
caressingly upon her fair hair. 

“Why so sad and pensive, Marie?” he said ten- 
derly. 

She sighed. 

“I was thinking,” she said. 

“Thinking?” he echoed. 

She suddenly rose, clasped her two arms about 
his neck, and looked long and searchingly up 
into his face. 

“Tell me,” she said, “why did you accept this 
gift from the Brandenburger? I should feel 
happier and easier had it never been bestowed.” 

“Do you regret it, Marie, that I accepted it?” 
the Baron asked. 

“Regret it?” 

“Would our paths have met had I acted other- 
wise? Whatever sins Brandenburg may have to 
answer for in the past, it is at least to her King, the 
Emperor, that I owe — ^this.” 

“Ah, that it should be so,” she exclaimed, with a 
little flash of petulance. “But is it really so?” she 
continued. “Had you not seen and loved me, 
though I never knew it, before all this happened? 
And way ” 

“You forget,” he said, “that it was when you had 
no eyes for such as me, Marie. What if I had 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


227 


sought this favor as the one and only means to 
realize what I could never hope to realize by other 
means?” 

She averted her head with a troubled look. 

‘‘It is what I have long feared to believe,” she 
murmured. 

“Feared?” 

“My brother always said it. He wrote it 
again and again. He thought you had forsaken 
the cause for — for this. It was the reason of his 
vehement anger, his distrust. Oh, why does he 
thus distrust you?” she exclaimed, with a little 
burst. “He is so good, so tender” 

He took her hand in his and kissed it lovingly. 

“If you trust me, Marie, and my love and loy- 
alty,” he said softly, “all will be well. Rest as- 
sured, I shall yet make my peace with him.” 

“Perhaps, had you gone to Berolingen and 
seen him, as he desired,” she said, “he might have 
relented. It was unwise to refuse.” 

“He will still relent,” the Baron answered. 

“Not if you oppose him,” she said thoughtfully. 
“You have other plans than his. Is it not so? 
And he knows it. What if those plans should 
fail? Is it safe to be so trustful? Think of the 
past, and the cruel wrong done to a Prince whose 
rights are rooted in the soil of ages. What trust 
can be placed in a sovereign who claims posses- 
sion to the fruit of that grievous wrong? Ah, 


228 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

you smile,” she added, with an impetuous little 
toss of her head. ‘‘Perhaps men may find it easy 
to unlearn the creed with which they were born. 
I am only a woman.” 

“You mistake me, Marie,” he said gravely. 
“God forbid that I should wish you to forsake a 
creed which is part of your very being. But no 
creed, however sacred, can alter accomplished 
facts; and it is with these we have to reckon; to 
reconcile what we desire — ay, perhaps even what 
is right — with what is possible.” 

She shook her head slowly and resolutely. 

“Ah,” she said, with a sigh, “how it always pains 
me to hear you speak thus. There can be no 
question of compromise between the house of 
Noveria and that of Brandenburg. The idea is 
hateful to me. You place trust in this young 
Emperor. Yet how does he requite that trust? 
By watching you, and setting his police spies to 
dog your every footstep. They are here about us 
now. They surround and pry upon us wherever 
we turn. I know it, and I fear them.” 

She spoke quickly and nervously, and her hand, 
which had stolen into his as she proceeded, trem- 
bled perceptibly. 

He drew her tenderly toward him. 

“Fear nothing,” he said. “These men cannot 
harm us.” 

“But your actions may be misinterpreted,” she 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


229 


went on, with increasing ardor; “nay, they have 
already been misinterpreted. Are there not those 
who believe that you have had private dealings 
with this man — that you have held secret, dan- 
gerous intercourse with him? But it is not so? 
You can assure me that it is not so?” 

She looked into his eyes, wistfully, almost fear- 
somely. He smiled, and gently stroked her fore- 
head. 

“Why let these fears harass you, Marie?” he 
said. “Such thoughts are for men only. Let 
them strive and struggle. It is man’s province, 
not woman’s.” 

“It would kill me if they should ever doubt 
you,” she murmured. “Have I no part in you and 
your fair fame?” 

“Such part, indeed,” he said, with sudden in- 
tenseness, “that I will accept no other judge of 
my actions than you, my own. But it must be 
your heart that judges me, Marie. May I claim, 
whatever comes, to plead alone before that one 
supreme tribunal?” 

She glanced at him in mild surprise at the ear- 
nestness of his tone. 

“My heart?” she said softly. “Has not that 
judged you already? And could its judgment, 
once pronounced, ever be reversed?” 

“Let me hear it,” he exclaimed. “How does 
your heart judge me?” 


230 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


She paused an instant, as if wavering between 
doubt and resolve. Then she raised her eyes once 
more and fixed them with a sweet, earnest expres- 
sion upon his face. 

“I judge you,” she said, in a low, vibrating 
voice, “as I shall ever judge you, as long as I hope 
to live : spotless in honor, unswerving in faith ; as 
loyal to the Prince you serve as true to the woman 
you love.” 

The shadow of a cloud passed over his face. 
She observed it, and a look of wonder crept into 
her eyes. It was for a moment only; then she 
smiled upon him again, serenely, confidently. 

“You are silent,” she whispered. 

Her voice seemed to thrill him. He clasped 
her to his breast with a sudden impulse, and held 
her there in a passionate embrace. 

“Marie,” he said, “what if I told you ” 

But the sound of footsteps approaching quickly 
along the gravel path leading from the house 
checked him, and he stopped abruptly. 

It was the servant, who came to announce a 
visitor. The Baron frowned, and waved the man 
off with an impatient gesture. 

“I will see no one,” he said angrily. “Why are 
my orders not obeyed? I do not receive stran- 
gers.” 

The man hesitated. 

“The gentleman says he has a communication 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


2S1 


of the utmost importance to make to you, sir,” 
he stammered, “and I thought ” 

“I know of no communication important 
enough to interest me,” his master replied. “Tell 
him so. If he has a message let him leave it. 
Go.” 

The serv^ant retreated quickly, and the Baron, 
ruffled by this inopportune interruption, paced the 
terrace with angry strides. 

He had not recovered his composure when the 
man reappeared, this time with every trace of sur- 
prise and alarm upon his countenance. Without 
a word he placed a card in his master^s hand and 
retired a few steps to await his orders. 

The effect of the card upon the Baron was a 
strange one. He took it, glanced at it, and gave 
a sudden start of surprise. Then a perplexed 
look came into his face, followed by one of dis- 
quietude, and, letting the card drop upon the 
table, he gazed for some moments thoughtfully 
into vacancy. 

“I must see this man at once,” he said at last, 
shaking off the mood, and speaking hurriedly to 
the Baroness. “I trust our interview will be 
short.” 

And followed by the servant he left the terrace, 
and passing quickly along the gravel walk dis- 
appeared a moment afterward into the house. 

The Baroness pursued him with her eyes until 


232 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


he had vanished. Then she took up the card he 
had left behind him from the table and looked 
at it. 

On its face it bore the usual inscription of the 
owner’s name, which, however, conveyed nothing 
of especial significance to the mind of the Baron- 
ess. What riveted her attention were the words 
which had been hastily scrawled in pencil beneath 
it, and which apparently explained the servant’s 
alarmed countenance and her husband’s con- 
cerned manner. 

“Sir John Templeton?” she murmured at last. 
“On the business of his Majesty the Arminian 
Emperor?” 

For fully a minute she stood staring at these 
words, without uttering a sound or making a ges- 
ture. But her face had grown paler, and her lip 
quivered tremulously. Slowly the card glided 
from her fingers and fell to the ground, where it 
lay unnoticed ; and still she stood, now gazing out 
over the hillside into the far, far distance with that 
same sad, earnest expression that had settled upon 
her face when, ten minutes before, her husband 
first broke in upon her silent mu sings. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


233 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE MEETING OP THE ARMINIAN SOVEREIGNS. 

Berolingen in its time has been the scene of 
many strange and impressive events, but it may 
be safely asserted that no more strange and im- 
pressive spectacle has ever been witnessed within 
its walls than that which it presented on the mem- 
orable twenty-fifth of June in the year of the 
young Emperor Willibald’s disappearance. 

I may claim to speak on the subject in some de- 
gree with the authority of personal experience. 
I was in Berolingen, then the capital, not of the 
great Arminian Empire, but of Brandenburg 
only, when his Majesty King Willibald I., stand- 
ing on the balcony of his palace between his 
great Minister and the wiry old strategist whose 
fame will last as long as that of his venerable sov- 
ereign and his fellow servant, addressed his people 
assembled below in their thousands on the eve of 
the great Franco- Arminian war. By a piece of 
singular good fortune, due chiefly to my diplo- 
matic position, I chanced within a year afterward 
to be an eye witness of the reception of his Maj- 
esty, now Arminian Emperor and King of Bran- 
denburg, when he re-entered his capital at the 
head of his incomparable army fresh from the stu- 
pendous victories in far-off Franconia. 


r 

234 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

Both these events have remained indelibly im- 
pressed upon my memory, as they doubtless have 
upon the memory of everyone who witnessed 
them. The scenes on both occasions have been 
described again and again by better and more 
able pens than mine, and if I mention them here 
it is merely by way of comparison with the 
strangely different spectacle I am now about to 
bring before the reader. Strangely different, in- 
deed, and yet in many respects remarkably simi- 
lar. 

The morning of the twenty-fifth of June, the 
day following the state ball described in previous 
chapters, had broken in all the glory of a mag- 
nificent summertide, and almost simultaneous 
with its dawn the entire city of Berolingen was 
astir. A kind of instinct seemed to have seized 
the people that the event they had so long appre- 
hended with so much sullen suspicion and sup- 
pressed resentment was about to take place. The 
contemplated meeting of the Arminian sovereigns 
in council had been kept a profound secret; yet 
the intelligence had spread abroad, and there was 
scarcely one among Berolingen^s million souls 
who was not accurately informed of the time and 
the place of the meeting. The precise effect of 
the tidings upon the temper of the masses was as 
difficult to gauge as were the intentions with 
which they appeared suddenly to have become in- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


235 


Spired. For that this extraordinary spirit of 
watchfulness which caused them to leave their 
beds at earliest dawn on a summer’s day and pa- 
rade the streets was the outcome of some deliber- 
ate intention could admit of no doubt. It was, 
in all save the actual fact, a rising, methodical, 
premeditated and silent, but none the less omi- 
nous and threatening; and the authorities knew 
and recognized it to be such. 

Rumors as to the unruly spirit pervading the 
city had reached the Government the day before, 
and precautions had been taken to provide for a 
sufficiently early display of the forces of law and 
order to prevent the elements of subversion which 
were believed to be at work among the citizens 
from gaining anything like a point of vantage in 
the contest that was likely to ensue. But when 
it came to the execution of the well-laid plans of 
the authorities the latter were met at the outset 
by a difficulty upon which they had not counted. 

It had been supposed that the center of the 
trouble, if any, would be the heart of the metropo- 
lis; that is to say, that the people would congre- 
gate, as a matter of course, in the grand Avenue 
of Limes, the Castle Square, and the adjacent 
quarters, where the chief events of the day were 
to pass, and it was in these parts of the city that 
the police had mustered at an early hour in strong 
bodies. But toward eight o’clock communica- 


236 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tions reached headquarters from every part of the 
immense city giving notice of the outbreak of 
more or less serious disturbances, and asking for 
immediate police reinforcements. Even in the 
outlying suburbs disorderly crowds had massed, 
threatening violence, and necessitating the dis- 
patch of extra constabulary to maintain peace and 
quiet. The consequence was that before noon 
the ranks of the police in the streets and squares 
in the immediate vicinity of the Royal Castle had 
become alarmingly thinned, and, although by this 
time all the principal routes leading to this great 
center had been occupied by the mounted troops 
ordered out ostensibly to do honor to the sover- 
eigns who were to pass along them on their way 
to the council, considerable disquietude was felt 
as to the possible results should an organized at- 
tempt be made by the riotously disposed to attack 
or break through this military cordon. 

The anxiety experienced on this score increased 
markedly toward one o’clock, the hour fixed for 
the assembling of the sovereigns in the Royal Cas- 
tle, when a strange thing happened which entirely 
disconcerted the authorities. As if on a precon- 
certed signal the inhabitants of every suburb of 
the capital, men and women alike, suddenly com- 
menced to swarm in endless crowds toward the 
Avenue of Limes, the streams from all these dis- 
tant quarters converging and meeting in this al- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


237 


ready crowded center and hopelessly blocking 
every street and thoroughfare in a circumference 
of several miles. This maneuver — for it can 
scarcely be regarded otherwise — was accom- 
plished so simply and with such rapidity that 
long before the contingents of police which had 
been drafted into the various suburbs during the 
morning could communicate with the central au- 
thorities and receive orders to quit the evacuated 
quarters they were practically cut off from all 
access to the main body in the heart of the town. 

Let the reader, in order to fully conceive the 
meaning of this occurrence, imagine for a mo- 
ment that the entire inhabitants of greater London 
were to flock at a given signal from every corner 
of the vast metropolis toward one particular cen- 
ter — say the vicinity of Buckingham Palace, for 
instance — on the occasion of a grand court pa- 
geant, thus swelling the crowds already assem- 
bled in that neighborhood to an extent unprece- 
dented even in the history of London mobs; and 
this after fully half the police force of the great 
city had been withdrawn to maintain order in the 
suburbs. The picture presented to his mind will 
convey something at least faintly resembling the 
spectacle I am endeavoring to describe. 

Berolingen differs, however, from London in 
this respect, that it is not studded with large open 
parks wherein congregated masses of this de- 


238 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


scription may find breathing spaces even under 
such extraordinary conditions as here related. 
It was, consequently, in the streets that the crowds 
gathered, and from the grand Avenue of Limes, 
whence some dozen of the principal thoroughfares 
of the inner town radiate toward all quarters of the 
city, every street was soon densely packed for a 
distance of miles in all directions. 

In the grand avenue itself, and the two or three 
chief adjoining streets along which the route of 
the various royalties lay, the crush was naturally 
the greatest, and it extended hence like one un- 
broken sea of humanity as far as the Castle Square, 
where strong detachments of cavalry were drawn 
up, barring the way to all save those privileged 
to enter the castle. 

Here there were every now and then ugly 
rushes on the part of some among the countless 
multitudes that filled every inch of space outside 
the military cordon. But no organized assault 
was attempted. Indeed, the marvel was the com- 
parative self-control exercised by these dense 
throngs, not only here, but everywhere, even in 
the surrounding streets, where, had anything in 
the nature of a serious disturbance arisen, the po- 
lice would have been altogether powerless to 
grapple with it. In short, one spirit seemed to 
pervade everyone, and it was a spirit of calm reso- 
lution. Not that the elements of disorder and 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


239 


lawlessness were by any means wanting. Indeed, 
they made their presence felt in all parts of the 
city. But they found themselves, to their sur- 
prise, confronted and controlled by a power they 
had not reckoned with. Wherever they gave the 
slightest sign of activity they were immediately 
suppressed, sternly and resolutely, not by the 
usual forces with which they were accustomed to 
wage interminable war, but by the people them- 
selves. 

It was plainly evident that a tacit determination 
existed on the part of the populace to countenance 
no ruffianism. The Berolingers had a fixed pur- 
pose, and strangely enough, in spite of all the 
many indications to the contrary, that purpose 
seemed to be to carefully avoid any conflict with 
the representatives of the law — for the present. 

Such, then, was the general aspect presented by 
the Arminian capital at the hour when the mon- 
archs of the Empire were preparing to leave 
their various quarters and proceed in state to the 
Royal Castle to deliberate on the momentous 
question of electing one amongst their number to 
assume the functions of supreme head and leader 
in place of the vanished Emperor. 

The authorities, military and executive, were 
utterly puzzled. There was no mistaking- the at- 
titude of the people. It meant defiance, and some- 
thing more. But this self-possessed, almost dig- 


240 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


nified demeanor seemed so strangely out of keep- 
ing with the revolutionary sentiments that were 
supposed to underlie it that it was difficult to 
grasp its deeper meaning. In vain the Govern- 
ment waited throughout that morning for reports 
of hostile outbreaks in this or that quarter, which 
might afford some indication as to where the cen- 
tral seat of the threatening disturbances lay, or a 
clew as to the ultimate intentions of the mob. 
None of any importance came. The people were 
waiting, waiting steadily, patiently — for some- 
thing. What, no one was able to say. 

At the stroke of one o^clock the first royal car- 
riage, preceded at a distance of fifty yards by two 
mounted police officers, and accompanied by a 
small escort of the Imperial Guard, left one of 
the palaces in Willibald Street and rolled rapidly 
through the double row of troops that lined the 
course toward the Avenue of Limes, along which 
it proceeded at the same rapid pace in the direc- 
tion of the castle. 

Its occupants were the Kings of Suabia and 
Neckarstadt, and their countenances, as they 
glanced occasionally right and left over the sea 
of faces upturned to them on either side of the 
great avenue, gave unequivocal evidence of the 
uneasiness prevailing in their minds. A low 
murmur, sounding like the rumble of distant 
thunder, greeted them along the entire route. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


241 


Otherwise the reception they met with was in all 
respects similar to that which had been accorded 
them on the day of their arrival in the capital. 
There was no actively hostile manifestation, not 
even in the Castle Square itself, where an inces- 
sant stir and movement among the crowds was 
now perceptible, like the seething and bubbling 
that may be observed on the surface of an im- 
mense cauldron just prior to the moment when 
its contents reach the boiling point. 

In rapid succession the rest of the sovereigns 
now followed one another from all directions. The 
King of Wettinia, the Grand Dukes of Zahringen 
and of Castel, the three Dukes of the Thuringian 
states, the sovereigns of Mecklenthal and Strelitz- 
burg, and the host of smaller sovereign Princes, 
each with his attendants and outriders, and ac- 
companied, according to his rank and conse- 
quence, by a more or less imposing military es- 
cort, passed into the avenue within a few minutes 
of each other at different points, the accompany- 
ing cavalcades in some cases meeting and min- 
gling into one. 

For the space of a quarter of an hour, as all 
these splendid corteges proceeded toward the 
Castle Square, the spectacle in the streets was 
one of imposing grandeur. Between the various 
points where the carriages issued into the avenue 
mounted dragoons and orderlies could be seen 


242 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


galloping to and fro, conveying orders and di- 
recting the movements of the individual parties 
in such manner as to prevent them from clash- 
ing and obstructing each other. At the street cor- 
ners along the route the extra contingents of po- 
lice stationed there to prevent any sudden rush 
on the part of the crowds that blocked these thor- 
oughfares as far as the eye could reach drew closer 
together as each cavalcade passed, backing their 
steeds the while into the compact wall of human 
beings behind them until the animals reared from 
sheer astonishment at the living obstruction they 
met with. But the precaution was unnecessary. 
In no single case was an endeavor made by these 
stolid spectators to oppose the restraint thus 
forced upon them, or otherwise to interfere with 
the customary order of things. They merely 
watched the pageant, recognizing the occupants 
of each carriage as it passed before them and 
rolled on its way to its ultimate destination — the 
Castle Square. 

Here the scene was somewhat different. As 
one cortege after the other arrived and passed 
through the ranks of the cavalry drawn up in 
front of the castle entrance in a strong phalanx, 
curving crescent-like from one end of the square 
to the other, the movement among the assembled 
populace increased perceptibly ; though under or- 
dinary conditions it might have been ascribed to 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


243 


nothing more serious than the natural excitement 
which always pervades large congregations of 
this description when the moment of supreme in- 
terest arrives. There was a certain tension no- 
ticeable, however, on the countenances of those 
whose position was to the front, nearest the troops, 
which could scarcely be accounted for by the 
eager interest they felt in the proceedings before 
them. Indeed, their attention seemed to be at- 
tracted elsewhere, and once or twice, when a mo- 
mentary interval occurred in the procession of 
carriages entering the archway to the inner castle 
yard, their eyes could be seen to wanderanxiously 
in the opposite direction toward some spot on the 
other side of the square facing the castle. 

This curious attitude of expectancy on their 
part was a subject of considerable speculation to 
many who were viewing the scene below from 
various coigns of vantage in the castle itself. The 
windows of the grand council chamber on the 
first floor of the main building, where the mon- 
archs were now assembling, overlooked the 
square, and from here a vast birdseye view was 
afforded, not only of the multitude gathered there, 
but also of the streets beyond, where the people 
stood in serried masses, the sea of heads extend- 
ing between the houses in all directions to an 
immense distance, like living streams, all converg- 
ing to one common center. 


244 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


The sight was indeed one to strike a thrill to the 
boldest heart. Such a congregation of the popu- 
lace had never been known within the history of 
Berolingen, and its meaning could scarcely be 
misconstrued. In the few moments since the first 
members of the sovereign council had entered the 
chamber, where they stood in groups near the 
large windows, gazing anxiously upon the ex- 
traordinary spectacle outside, some foreboding of 
the events that were preparing seemed to have 
seized their minds, and the air of suspense which 
pervaded the room deepened from minute to 
minute, as the number of those present gradually 
increased until it was nearly complete. 

In the embrasure of the middle window stood 
King Albert of Wettinia and Leopold, Prince 
Regent of Wittelsbach, engaged in earnest con- 
versation. The former looked grave and con- 
cerned, the latter stern and somewhat contemptu- 
ous. The Prince, being quartered in the castle 
itself, was the only one of the monarchs who had 
not taken part in the procession through the 
streets, and his view of the temper of the populace 
was therefore merely based upon what he now 
saw from the window. His arrival in Berolin- 
gen, too, it will be remembered, had passed al- 
most unnoticed, and he had not had the oppor- 
tunity, like his fellow sovereigns, of gauging the 
feelings which their presence evoked by the na- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


245 


ture of the reception accorded to them on that oc- 
casion. In consequence, he was inclined to treat 
the misgivings to which the Wettinian monarch 
was now giving expression very lightly, and to 
scout the notion of there being any intention on 
the part of the people to interfere with the coun- 
cil or its illustrious members. 

“What your Majesty regards with so much con- 
cern,” he said, “is, I think, merely the result of 
ordinary popular curiosity. The mob has come 
out to gape and stare, not to threaten.” 

“Your Highness forgets,” the King replied, 
“that no intelligence of to-day^s proceedings has 
been officially vouchsafed to the public. Mobs of 
this size do not gather at a moment’s notice. This 
one has unquestionably assembled premeditat- 
edly and in accordance with a long-determined 
plan. All Berolingen is astir.” 

“Are we to expect a revolution, then?” the 
Prince said. “Such movements do not generally 
commence in this fashion. Moreover, the troops 
are in any case a sufficient safeguard. Where 
would these sans-culottes be in case of a conflict?” 

“I think the result would be more than doubt- 
ful,” the King rejoined. “Although the troops 
are mustered in considerable force, they are scat- 
tered over an immense area, and their positions 
are extremely disadvantageous. The streets 
were virtually already in possession of the popu- 


246 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


lace before any of the troops had left their bar- 
racks. This unforeseen circumstance has mate- 
rially interfered with the dispositions of the mili- 
tary commanders, and if it was deliberate design 
it has certainly effected its purpose. A glance 
from that window will convince your Highness 
that in case of need no reinforcements could 
reach the precincts of the castle save by the one 
route which we have just traversed.” 

The Prince cast a quick look across the square 
and into the densely-packed streets beyond, and 
was silent. 

“But heaven forbid,” the King went on, “that 
any conflict should ensue. The consequences 
would be too fearful to contemplate. It is this 
we should avoid at all cost.” 

“If it be forced upon us the responsibility will 
rest with the people, not with us,” the Prince said. 
“But, frankly, I do not share your Majesty^s ap- 
prehensions. Were there any deliberate design 
in this extraordinary conflux of idle crowds there 
would surely have been some evidence of it by 
this time. It seems, at least, that there has been 
no attempt to prevent our assembling. The 
council, as your Majesty sees,” he added, casting 
his eye over the sundry groups in the chamber, 
“has so far been permitted to reach the scene of 
its deliberations in safety. Our number is nearly 
full.” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


247 


Indeed, just as he spoke the last of the pro- 
cession of the Arminian Princes entered the Cas- 
tle Square, and a minute later, passing through 
the cordon of troops, disappeared into the arch- 
way entrance below. 

At that moment, visible to the two monarchs at 
the window, a small white flag suddenly shot out 
of the topmost story of one of the houses oppo- 
site. The occurrence, insignificant in itself, had 
a startling effect upon those who witnessed it from 
the castle. But the effect upon the people below 
was more startling still. 

The appearance of the flag was followed by a 
moment of complete stillness outside. The con- 
fused babel of tongues, the din and the uproar, 
to which the ear had gradually become almost in- 
sensible from the sheer persistency of the sound, 
ceased with a suddenness that was more surpris- 
ing to those assembled in the council chamber, 
by contrast with what had gone before, than if a 
cannon-shot had been fired off in their midst, and 
one and all stood gazing at each other, alert and 
attentive. 

The interval of silence can scarcely have lasted 
longer than two or three seconds. Then followed 
a general roar, accompanied by a curious shuf- 
fling noise, like that which attends the quick move- 
ments of a body of soldiers at exercise when car- 


248 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

rying out their drill officer’s commands, only on 
a far larger scale. 

What it meant no one knew. There was cer- 
tainly something out of the common going on be- 
low, as was evidenced by the excited looks of the 
multitude and the attitude of surprise assumed by 
the troops, who were still stationary in the same 
position they had been occupying for hours. But 
to all appearances it was nothing of a serious or 
alarming nature. Other sounds, of a far more 
ominous kind than those proceeding from the 
square, had become audible to the occupants of 
the council chamber; and not only to them, but 
also to the surging throng outside. They came 
from the distance, and were heard in various di- 
rections far above the voices of those immediately 
below. 

Could the white flag have been a signal, not to 
the crowd in the square, but to the people in other 
parts of the town? The simultaneity of its ap- 
pearance with the cries and shouts that could 
now be heard resounding in the distant portions 
of the city admitted of but one interpretation — the 
two incidents bore some relation to one another. 
What relation it seemed not difficult to guess. 

There is a peculiar ring in the voice of vast 
multitudes, however far distant they may be, 
which conveys, even to the untrained ear, unmis- 
takable evidence of the passions that uplift it. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


249 


The distant sounds now wafted across to the cas- 
tle by the wind were undoubtedly the sounds of 
rushing, struggling masses, and of masses that 
were triumphing. 

The Prince Regent of Wittelsbach himself, 
with all his contempt for mob organization when 
opposed to military discipline, could hardly pre- 
tend to be deaf to this unmistakable note of tri- 
umph, though he affected to regard it with un- 
concern. The noise in the distance rose and fell 
with the breeze, and, though it continued without 
interruption, it appeared for the moment to be sta- 
tionary. At least there was no sign that the dis- 
turbance, if it was such, was extending in the di- 
rection of the castle. After all, it seemed impos- 
sible to believe if the populace had intended any 
hostile manifestation against the council that they 
would have chosen some remote portion of the 
town to make it in, after allowing the monarchs 
to pass through the streets unmolested. 

The council was now assembled in its full num- 
ber, and, whatever might be passing in the city 
outside, there was nothing to prevent it from pro- 
ceeding to its deliberations. Its first business — 
which, according to the views of certain pessi- 
mistic minds, would probably prove to be its only 
business, and that, too, abortive — was the election 
of a President. 

The King of Wettinia, it was known, had laid 


250 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


claim to this office by right of seniority, a right 
which the Wittelsbacher, as was equally well 
known, was resolved to contest. A flutter of ex- 
citement, therefore, passed over the august as- 
sembly, causing it momentarily to forget the in- 
cidents which had just engrossed its attention, 
when the Prince Regent, leaving the side of his 
royal rival, was seen to approach the chief secre- 
tary of the council. Prince Hohenburg, and after 
a short conversation with him silently take his 
place at the table. It was the signal for the rest to 
follow suit, and in a few moments every member 
present had taken his seat at the huge horseshoe- 
shaped table which occupied the middle of the 
chamber. 

After a short, impressive pause, the secretary 
of the council, who was seated with his three as- 
sistant secretaries at an oblong table drawn across 
the space between the two ends of the horseshoe, 
and who thus faced the five and twenty sover- 
eigns, rose to read the summons convening the 
conclave, issued, as the document formally put it, 
by two illustrious members of the council, to wit, 
his Majesty King Albert of Wettinia and his Royal 
Highness the Prince Regent of Wittelsbach. 

The reading of this momentous document, 
however, had scarcely commenced when it was 
unceremoniously interrupted by the hasty en- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


251 


trance of an officer in the uniform of a colonel of 
the Imperial Guard. 

The intrusion was so extraordinary, and the ex- 
pression on this man’s countenance was so grave 
and full of concern, that the assembled monarchs 
with one accord half started up from their seats, 
and the secretary of the council broke off in his 
reading with a snap that sounded almost as if his 
jaw-bone had suddenly sustained a fracture. 

Outside in the square the din of voices had risen 
to a pitch that no longer left any doubt as to the 
attitude of the mob collected there, and the up- 
roar in the distance had now assumed dimensions 
which indicated that the disturbance was rapidly 
extending toward the square. 

One glance at the stern face of the officer suf- 
ficed to enlighten the King of Wettinia as to the 
nature of his errand. The Prince Regent was the 
first to recover his voice. 

“What is the meaning of this intrusion, sir?” he 
asked, regarding the colonel with a frown. 

“The meaning, your Royal Highness,” the of- 
ficer replied with military bluntness, “is that a 
revolution has broken out in Berolingen, and I 
have thought it my duty to inform your Majesties 
and Highnesses of the fact.” 

“A revolution!” exclaimed the Prince. “But 
where are the troops? Are they incapable of cop- 
ing with a mere mob?” 


252 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


The colonel colored. 

“Sir,” he rejoined, “if you are pleased to issue 
any commands to me they shall be promptly 
obeyed, whatever the cost may be. My orders, 
however, are to guard the precincts of the castle.” 

“Well?” 

“It will become impossible to fulfill that duty 
unless I receive speedy reinforcements. I have 
five hundred men under my command. We are 
walled in by a multitude numbering a hundred 
thousand.” 

“Walled in? Do you mean that the castle is 
practically at the mercy of the mob?” 

“This is no ordinary mob, sir,” the officer re- 
plied gravely, “but the entire populace of Bero- 
lingen. And they are in deadly earnest.” 

“But the troops, man, the troops,” the Prince 
cried in astonishment. “Two-thirds of the whole 
garrison — thirty thousand men at least — are in the 
streets.” 

“And well occupied, if one can judge by 
sounds,” the officer retorted dryly, glancing sig- 
nificantly toward the street. 

“Then what is to be done?” the King of Wet- 
tinia exclaimed. “Do you anticipate an attack 
upon the castle?” 

“Within ten minutes, unless help arrives, or — 
he hesitated, “or your Majesties and Royal High- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


253 


nesses will consent to agree to the terms of the 
people.” 

“Terms?” cried the Prince. “Are we belea- 
guered by an army? What are these terms?” 

“They demand, firstly, that the council of sov- 
ereigns shall instantly break up, in which case 
your Majesties and Royal Highnesses, with two 
exceptions, who shall remain in Berolingen as 
hostages pending his Majesty the Emperor’s safe 
return, will be permitted to leave the city un- 
harmed. The second condition is that the Em- 
peror’s private secretary, who is a Noverian and 
believed to be implicated in a plot against his 
Majesty, shall be at once delivered up to the rep- 
resentatives of the people.” 

For an instant the illustrious assembly to whom 
these words were addressed stood speechless with 
amazement. Then the Prince Regent sprang to 
his feet in an excess of rage. 

“Do you,” he exclaimed, in a voice trembling 
with passion, “an officer holding his Majesty the 
Emperor’s commission, dare to present yourself 
before us with such an insolent message?” 

“I have done my duty, sir,” the man replied 
simply, “and I merely request your Royal High- 
ness’ commands as to the nature of the answer I 
am to take back.” 

“And if we refuse to comply with these insolent 
demands?” the King of Wettinia asked, 


254 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“The castle will be stormed,” the officer replied. 

“And you, sir?” the Prince Regent said sternly. 

“I shall defend it as long as I remain alive,” 
the colonel answered with quiet dignity. “I am 
responsible for the safety of its occupants.” 

“Then go, sir, and do your duty,” the Prince 
said coldly. “We are men, not women; and if 
there is dying to be done ” 

But the rest of the sentence was drowned in 
the terrific tumult that now arose outside. It 
came with a burst so sudden that the stoutest 
heart might well have quailed before it. 

Rushing to one of the windows, the colonel 
gazed out, and fell back instantly, pale and aghast. 

“They have broken faith, the scoundrels,” he 
murmured wrathfully. “But, by heaven, we will 
sell our blood dearly.” 

And without another word he darted from the 
room and was gone. 

Several of the monarchs had followed him to 
the window. But the sight that met their view 
caused them to retreat again hurriedly. The en- 
tire square and the streets beyond presented one 
mass of struggling humanity, all pressing or being 
pressed relentlessly toward the castle. The cries, 
shouts and shrieks were deafening, and seemed to 
come from every imaginable quarter at once. The 
square alone, roughly computed, must have held 
at least thirty thousand persons, on whom the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


255 


pressure of perhaps fivefold that number was now 
being exerted from the mob in the adjacent streets. 

And between this overwhelming multitude, mad 
with excitement and apparently unreasoning fury, 
and the five and twenty sovereigns assembled in 
the council chamber there was a paltry body of 
five hundred mounted troops — a mere handful 
when compared with the fearful numbers oppos- 
ing them. 

The events of the last fifteen minutes had fol- 
lowed one another in such quick succession that 
they had left those whom they most nearly con- 
cerned no time to realize the significance of each 
successive stage. But here was a situation which 
it required not a momenfs reflection to grasp. 
The storming of the castle could under the cir- 
cumstances be a matter of a few minutes only, and 
what it meant to these five and twenty crowned 
heads was perfectly plain. 

No one spoke. Every ear was strained to listen 
to the sounds outside. The large folding doors 
of the chamber opened onto the grand staircase, 
at the foot of which stood two officers on guard. 
At the door itself another two officers were sta- 
tioned, whilst in the gallery running round the 
staircase and in the lobby immediately adjoining 
the chamber the adjutants and officers in attend- 
ance upon the individual sovereigns were scat- 
tered in several groups. Gradually this space be- 


256 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


came more and more crowded as the servants and 
officials from all parts of the castle came, pale and 
terror-stricken, to seek refuge and safety where, 
alas! had they only reflected, they must have 
known that it was least likely to be found — in the 
proximity of the illustrious sovereigns. 

Below all was commotion and confusion. Offi- 
cers, lackeys, grooms, gentlemen of the Imperial 
household, were hurrying to and fro, asking ques- 
tions or shouting commands. Doors were being 
opened or slammed in all directions, the muffled 
shrieks of terrified women sounded from the re- 
moter regions of the castle, and, mingling with all 
these sounds of alarm and dismay in the building, 
the roar and the turmoil outside rose higher and 
higher, approached nearer and nearer. It was a 
scene of indescribable excitement. 

In the castle courtyard the ordinary guard was 
drawn up, and the glittering helmets of the men 
could be seen opposite the great archway entrance 
leading to the square almost immediately beneath 
the windows of the council chamber itself. Here, 
too, everyone save the soldiers themselves, who 
stood stolidly awaiting events, seemed beside him- 
self with panic and amazement. Bewildered offi- 
cials were flying aimlessly across the courtyard, 
stumbling, colliding, impeding each other^s move- 
ments. Cries were raised to close the archway 
gates. But even had these huge, ponderous 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


257 


masses of iron been so easily movable at a mo- 
ment’s notice, the thing was already impossible. 
The archway itself was blocked by a heterogen- 
eous crowd of civilians and soldiers, all struggling 
to resist the tremendous pressure of the onrush- 
ing multitude outside. 

All this time not a shot had been fired, not a 
stone flung at the castle windows; a circumstance 
that emboldened the King of Wettinia and two 
or three of his fellow-sovereigns once more to 
survey the scene in the square. But they had 
hardly shown themselves at the window when 
they were recognized by those below, and a per- 
fect storm of triumphant yells rent the air, caus- 
ing them for the second time to fall back pre- 
cipitately. 

At the same moment several of the officers in 
waiting outside burst into the chamber, the fore- 
most exclaiming that the castle was taken. And, 
indeed, across the lobby and beyond the grand 
staircase, over the heads of the groups of servants, 
officials, adjutants, and others, now thickly clus- 
tered there, the people could be seen in the dis- 
tance pouring into the courtyard in one tumultu- 
ous, unbroken stream. On came the rush, the 
fiercely jubilant shouts now resounding both 
within and without the castle walls, filling the 
spacious yard and the entrance hall below. 


258 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“They are making for the chamber,” cried sev- 
eral voices. “Stand by the Princes.” 

But on came the torrent, rising, rising. The 
staircase was one overwhelming mass of shouting, 
cheering, struggling human beings. On they 
came, carrying everything before them. What 
could that puny body of men before the entrance 
to the Council Chamber hope to accomplish 
against the tremendous impetus of such numbers? 
Before they could take measures, either for de- 
fense or attack, they found themselves jostling 
one another, compressed into a narrow space, a 
serried, compact group — a mere temporary im- 
pediment, a paltry barrier, that might perhaps 
stem the surging tide for an instant, but no longer. 

In the Council Chamber stood the five and 
twenty sovereigns grouped in threes and fours, 
pale, erect, and silent, waiting for that which they 
told themselves must come. They were soldiers 
every one of them, trained in the severe discipline 
which has made the Arminian army the great, 
almost invincible body it is. Whatever might oc- 
cur, they would comport themselves as became 
their military honor and their ancient lineage. 
Their hands were on their sword hilts, and slowly, 
resolutely, as the onrush grew more terrific, they 
drew the weapons from their scabbards ready for 
action. 

The spectacle was impressive in its dignity, and 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


259 


almost grandly simple in its contrast with the mad 
scene of excitement outside. The resolute knot of 
men in the doorway, standing firm and determined 
shoulder to shoulder, every face set sternly, and 
every muscle exerted to resist the onflow from 
without, was all that could be seen from the in- 
terior of the room. But the clamor beyond told 
the ear what the eye could not perceive. 

For the space of a few seconds it seemed as if 
the incoming rush were checked, and a voice from 
among the group at the door raised a faint cheer 
of encouragement, which, however, was instantly 
drowned by counter-cheers from countless throats 
in the distance. Then someone cried: 

“Stand fast! The guards have cleared the 
courtyard. They hold the archway.” 

But the reassuring news came too late, so far as 
those to whom it was addressed were concerned. 
The pressure upon them had become irrestistible. 
They now yielded, and came tumbling, stumbling 
pell-mell into the chamber, followed by the rush. 

A strange and startling sight was now witnessed 
by those in the chamber. Once the barrier re- 
moved, the van of the storming party came to a 
temporary halt. Whether momentarily daunted 
by the presence of these five and twenty pale and 
determined men, who stood sword in hand in an 
attitude of military firmness waiting to receive 
their assailants, or whether in obedience to some 


260 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


pre-arranged plan, they advanced only a few steps 
into the room, arraying themselves on either side 
of the door, and thus forming a wide lane, through 
which those who followed behind them came 
pouring in — but again only to deploy, as it were, 
in the same manner as the others, with necks 
straining backwards, and eager, expectant faces, 
as if watching for some sign or coming event 
outside. 

Suddenly the influx ceased. The hubbub of 
voices was hushed to a low murmur, and through 
the now open lane, which reached as far as the 
eye could carry, the solitary figure of a man was 
seen advancing from the staircase with a quick, 
dignified step. 

One moment of breathless silence and intense 
suspense, then a great gasp of amazement, aud- 
ible even above the ceaseless roaring of the multi- 
tude without, burst from the august assembly in 
the chamber. The next instant, with that sudden 
revulsion of the feelings which causes men to 
pass from the extreme of one emotion to the ex- 
treme of another, these five and twenty sovereign 
princes raised their swords high aloft and sent 
forth a cheer that would have done credit to the 
throats of any picked thousand men among their 
subjects. 

And, indeed, well might they cheer. 

The figure that now stood upon the threshold 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


261 


of the Council Chamber, surveying the scene be- 
fore him with a calm, critical smile, was his Maj- 
esty Willibald II, Arminian Emperor and King 
of Brandenburg. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

HOW THE REVOLUTION OP BEROLINGEN 
WAS AVERTED. 

Until this day it has never been exactly ascer- 
tained how the famous Berolingen rising of June 
15, which ended in so strangely dramatic a man- 
ner, came about, nor whose was the master mind 
that planned it. For, that it had been planned in 
its every detail with a care and a foresight worthy 
of the finest tactical history has known, admits of 
no doubt. 

The most astonishing thing about it is the cir- 
cumstance that the plan itself can have been 
known to comparatively only a few people, and 
that those who executed it when the critical mo- 
ment came, blindly, unquestioningly, were ad- 
mittedly taken as completely by surprise as the 
authorities against whom it was directed. It is 
true, of course, that in the excited state of the pub- 
lic feeling it required but the tiniest spark to ignite 
the flame of revolution. But to control and direct 


262 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

it in the manner in which it was controlled and 
directed, towards one stern, distinct purpose, was 
a work of a very different kind, the accomplish- 
ment of which is by no means so easily explained. 

That the riots in the suburbs and the outlying 
districts of the capital, which broke out in the 
course of the morning, were the outcome of a de- 
liberate maneuver to divert the attention of the 
authorities and necessitate the withdrawal of a 
large portion of the police forces from the center 
of the town, is beyond question. The accumula- 
tion of vast masses of the populace in all the 
streets adjoining the Castle Square, whereby the 
troops stationed there were cut off from all com- 
munication with the rest of the town, was also no 
less certainly the result of deliberate design. No 
such movement could have been foreseen, and the 
police in these thoroughfares, which lay quite out 
of the route of the day’s proceedings, proved ut- 
terly powerless to cope with the overwhelming 
crowds that began to stream into them from the 
most unexpected quarters of the city within an 
hour only of the procession of sovereigns through 
the chief streets of the capital. 

Both these incidents, it is needless to say, had 
occasioned great disquietude at headquarters, and 
were the cause of much perplexity on the part of 
the authorities, whose arrangements they ham- 
pered in so unforseen a manner. Still, in them- 


THE VANISHED EMDEROR. 263 

selves they had given no cause for serious appre- 
hension. The Government had been perfectly 
alive to the possibility of some hostile demonstra- 
tion on the part of the populace; they had even 
anticipated an active attempt at mob violence in 
certain quarters. But the point of attack, if any, 
would, they had imagined, be the Castle Square, 
or perhaps some particular portion of the route 
along which the Princes passed on their way to 
the council, the object of the party of discontent 
being avowedly to prevent the meeting of the 
sovereigns at all cost. 

While, therefore, the procession of Princes was 
on its way, the anxiety of those responsible for 
their safety was strained to the highest pitch, but 
once it had passed over without untoward inci- 
dent of any kind happening, all apprehension for 
the moment ceased. No one dreamed of danger 
now. The square itself had been closely packed 
with a comparatively quiet and orderly mob since 
the earliest hours of the morning, and even the 
concourse of people that stretched from here over 
the wide bridge which spans the river between the 
palaces, the Grand Opera House, and the Muse- 
ums, and for quite a mile and a half along the en- 
tire length of the Avenue of Limes to the Arch of 
Victory at its further end, huge and vast though 
it was, had given no actual signs of threatening 
trouble, or at least certainly none that could have 


264 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


led to the assumption on the part of the military 
and police authorities that these crowds of sight- 
seers were animated by the one joint purpose of 
attacking and overpowering the guardians of the 
law at a given signal after the procession had 
passed. 

Yet such was indeed the plan; and it would 
have succeeded to perfection — ^with what ulti- 
mate consequences to those against whom it was 
more particularly directed, who can say? — but for 
one event, which altered with one stroke the whole 
aspect of affairs and surprised attackers and at- 
tacked alike. 

To attempt to describe with any approach to 
accuracy the precise sequence of the incidents 
which culminated in the closing scenes of the last 
chapter is, I fear, an impossible task. Among 
the thousands and thousands who were eye wit- 
nesses of them there is probably not one whose 
testimony would be found to tally exactly with 
that of his neighbor. Under the circumstances, 
therefore, I perhaps cannot do better than select 
from the conflicting mass of evidence at my dis- 
posal the experience of one single individual, and, 
while supplementing it where feasible by the in- 
dependent accounts of others, make it the basis of 
this part of my narrative. 

I trust that it will not detract from the reliability 
of this testimony when I say that the single indi- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


265 


vidual in question is the humble author of these 
pages himself. My duties had of course necessi- 
tated my mixing with the crowds in the streets on 
that eventful day, and for a very good reason I 
had taken up my position in the Castle Square. 
The reason was this: Late the previous night I 
had received the following somewhat mysterious 
note, written, however, in a hand with which I 
was not unacquainted : 

‘Tf you desire to witness the most interesting 
part of to-morrow^s proceedings station yourself 
at an early hour well in view of the Royal Castle. 
You will not regret it.” 

The note was signed “A Journalistic Friend,” 
and, guessing the identity of my informant, I did 
not hesitate to follow his advice. I have since 
often regretted having done so; for, stirring 
though the scenes were which I had the good for- 
tune to witness from my coign of vantage in the 
Castle Square, my kind and well-meaning friend 
was after all destined to prove a false prophet, in- 
asmuch as the particular interesting event he was 
doubtless alluding to did not come off, as the 
reader now knows, whilst the real center of in- 
terest was unexpectedly transferred to other parts 
of the city. 

Indeed, the people in the square, and first and 
foremost the ringleaders of the movement which 
took place there, were as utterly mistaken as to 


266 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


what was actually occurring elsewhere as the in- 
mates of the castle itself. Had they been less 
excited it is possible that the simultaneity of the 
appearance of the white flag in one of the windows 
opposite the castle and the outburst of triumphant 
shouts and cries in the more distant portions of 
the town would have struck them as capable of a 
different construction from that which they placed 
upon it. The hoisting of the flag was undoubt- 
edly intended to serve two distinct purposes. The 
one was to announce to the mob in the square the 
fact that the last member of the sovereign council 
had passed into the castle. It was the prearranged 
signal for the crowd, prompted by the few initi- 
ated ones distributed amongst it, to swerve sud- 
denly, as it did, in such wise as to close up the 
route through which the procession had come, and 
consequently deprive the troop of cavalry drawn 
up before the castle entrance of this only means of 
communication with their comrades in the streets 
beyond. The other purpose was to convey tid- 
ings of the successful accomplishment of this ma- 
neuver to those assembled along the route itself, 
with the view to their commencing the sudden 
attack upon the troops lining it, which was to 
form part — and, indeed, no unimportant part — in 
the day’s revolutionary programme. 

Thus, while the great bulk of the military forces 
in the city were engaged in repulsing the fierce 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


267 


onslaughts made upon them simultaneously in all 
possible quarters, the mob in the square, sepa- 
rated from the actual scene of strife and backed by 
the almost limitless crowds filling and blocking 
the thoroughfares north of the castle, would prac- 
tically hold the castle and its gallant little band of 
defenders at their mercy, and be able to deal with 
both at their leisure. 

The plan, it must be acknowledged, was an ex- 
cellent one, and, so far as its first part was con- 
cerned, it proved an unqualified success. Hear- 
ing the sudden hubbub in the distance, and judg- 
ing from the jubilant tone of the shouts that burst 
upon them that all was progressing satisfactorily 
in that direction, the ringleaders in the square, 
who had formed themselves into a compact body 
to the front of the huge crowd facing the troops, 
proceeded to carry out their programme in the 
most deliberate and methodical fashion. No vio- 
lence was attempted, nor had any been intended 
in this quarter unless the small troop guarding 
the castle entrance should resort to desperate 
measures of defense, in which case it is to be feared 
that a quick and terrible fate would have over- 
taken them. The officer in command was merely 
approached by the spokesman of the group, a 
citizen of considerable standing in the capital, who, 
after tersely informing him of the true position of 
affairs, demanded firmly but respectfully to b^ 


268 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


conducted, with three of his companions, to the 
presence of the Arminian Princes. 

A short parley ensued, during which the offi- 
cer at first sturdily refused to budge. But, recog- 
nizing the utter helplessness of his position, and 
concluding from the rapidly-increasing sounds of 
the disturbance in the distance that he could look 
for no immediate help from other quarters, he 
finally consented with great reluctance to convey 
the demands of the people to the sovereigns in 
council, provided an undertaking were given that 
the mob would be held in check pending his re- 
turn. With the stipulation that the limit of his 
absence should not exceed fifteen minutes these 
terms were agreed to, and he went. 

The conduct of this officer has been impugned 
by some who affect to be particularly well versed 
in the code of military honor. But, inasmuch as 
the subject of their strictures was subsequently 
tried, and not only honorably acquitted, but actu- 
ally commended for his behavior, by a court- 
martial presided over by one of the fiercest disci- 
plinarians in the Arminian army, it is scarcely 
necessary for me, a mere civilian, to take up the 
cudgels in his defense. In an emergency of the 
extraordinary kind I have described, with such 
tremendous interests at stake, time was obviously 
the only thing to be gained, and it was to gain it 
that the officer in question acted as he did. Had 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


269 


he acted otherwise it is almost certain that Sir 
John Templeton^s somber prediction, recorded in 
a former chapter, would have been fulfilled to the 
letter; that is to say, that the Arminian Emperor 
would have re-entered his capital to find himself 
the only sovereign left in the Empire. 

During the worthy colonel’s absence the pact 
entered into by the party in the square was kept 
religiously. The sudden transformation of the 
comparatively quiet and orderly multitude assem- 
bled there into a surging, plunging sea of wildly- 
excited beings, as witnessed by the astonished 
officer from one of the windows of the council 
chamber, was not due, as he supposed, to a breach 
of faith on the part of those whom he had trusted, 
but to a very different cause. The news that the 
Emperor was in Berolingen and on his way to the 
castle had spread like wildfire through the city. 
The occupants of the square were the last whom 
it reached, and, preoccupied as they were with the 
events that were passing under their eyes, they 
had at first treated it as a myth, with incredulity 
and derision. When, however, the whole truth 
flashed upon them, and they saw that what they 
had mistaken for the triumphant cheers of an in- 
surgent mob had been in reality the people’s wild 
manifestation of joy at the long-despaired-of re- 
turn of their Emperor, incredulity made way for 
amazement, and amazement for such transports 


270 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


of jubilant delight that the very castle walls shook 
as from a sudden concussion. 

It was this yell of exultation, sent forth simul- 
taneously from tens of thousands of throats, which 
had suddenly interrupted the determined speech 
of the Regent of Wittelsbach and startled the gal- 
lant colonel into fancying himself and his men 
basely betrayed. 

How it had all happened — where the Emperor 
was first seen and recognized, and by whom — it 
is impossible for me or anyone else to say with 
any certainty. There are hundreds of Berolin- 
gers each of whom to this day proudly claims to 
have been the first to recognize and hail him as he 
entered the Avenue of Limes by the Arch of Vic- 
tory in an ordinary open carriage drawn by tw^o 
horses. One thing only is certain : that some time 
before any portion of the populace as a body 
became aware of his presence in their midst he 
was already surrounded by a strong guard of sol- 
diers, under whose escort he was proceeding as 
rapidly as circumstances would allow along the 
same route which had just been traversed by his 
fellow sovereigns. 

But far faster than horses could gallop trav- 
eled the news of his arrival. The magic, words, 
“The Emperor is coming,” flew from mouth to 
mouth. Necks' were craned, hands upraised, 
handkerchiefs waved, caps and hats thrown up 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


271 


into the air — in short, every imaginable demon- 
stration of frantic joy was indulged in. Roar fol- 
lowed upon roar until the clatter of the horses^ 
feet could no longer be distinguished. The peo- 
ple jostled, and hustled, and trampled upon each 
other in their frenzied anxiety to get near the 
carriage and catch a glimpse of the man for whom 
they had been mourning, plotting, scheming, and 
vowing vengeance for more than three sad weeks. 
No troops in the world could have safeguarded 
their charge from the headlong onrush of these 
shouting, screaming, cheering crowds, mad with 
the maddest of all excitements, senseless, exu- 
berant joy. 

But the troops were by this time long sup- 
planted and replaced. A body of some hundred 
resolute citizens, the very men who had been se- 
lected for a task of quite another description, 
which the reader will have no difficulty in divining 
for himself, had now surrounded the carriage on 
all sides, and by offering a determined front to 
the howling mob which rushed in upon it from 
every quarter prevented the carriage and its il- 
lustrious occupant from being overwhelmed and 
torn to pieces from the very excess of loyal af- 
fection. This band of self-appointed guards was 
swelled, as it proceeded, at each street corner by 
others of a like stamp, who, seizing the situation 
at a glance, rallied to the side of their sorely- 


272 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

pressed comrades, and kept back the struggling, 
fighting crowds, which, had they not been so re- 
strained, would have swept them away instanta- 
neously, as a torrent sweeps away a dam when 
once the bursting point has been reached. 

Such, then, was the escort which accompanied 
his Majesty the Emperor Willibald through the 
streets of Berolingen to his castle on the day of 
his long-looked-for return; and a safer escort no 
monarch has ever been able to boast of. His 
progress was of necessity slow and much impeded. 
But he reached the square at last, and — but the 
rest the reader knows. 

Indeed, what more could I add? What passed 
in the council chamber of the Royal Castle after 
the Emperor’s entry would doubtless be su- 
premely interesting to record were it only possible 
to obtain one single authentic account of that 
memorable scene which is not flatly contradicted 
by some other account of equal authenticity. The 
versions vary again here in a hopeless fashion, and 
probably no single one is quite correct. 

Those who know the character of the young 
Emperor — and he is pretty well known to the 
world at large at the present day — may be safely 
left to conclude for themselves what kind of wel- 
come he gave his illustrious guests, who had as- 
sembled under his roof much after the fashion of 
Penelope’s suitors — at least, so the public of Bero- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


273 


lingen thought That he understood the position 
and rightly appreciated the attitude of his own 
subjects may be inferred from the fact that when, 
in response to the thundering acclamations of 
the crowd outside, he appeared on the balcony of 
the castle a minute or two after his entrance into 
the council chamber he was alone, and stood there 
for fully two minutes, with his hand raised in sa- 
lute, and gazing proudly, and, as I thought — for 
I saw him — approvingly, at the vast multitude 
shouting and gesticulating below. Suddenly a 
voice started the first bars of the Arminian na- 
tional anthem, with the music of which no loyal 
Englishman is unacquainted. It was one soli- 
tary voice, but in a few seconds the whole im- 
mense gathering had taken up the song. All 
discordant shouts ceased as of one accord, and 
the grand, wonderful melody rang out to the skies 
in a strain that must have thrilled every heart 
present. 

Truly, it was the most stirring scene I have 
ever witnessed, and one that I shall never forget. 

I refrain from drawing a picture of the spectacle 
presented by the streets of the capital during the 
rest of that extraordinary day. The people for a 
time were beside themselves and lost to all sense 
of dignity and decorum. Excesses were commit- 
ted upon which I prefer to remain silent, and 
many a sad sight, too, was witnessed in those por- 


274 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tions of the city where the crush had been greatest 
and the inevitable results consequent upon the 
clashing of excited and unbridled masses had 
been most numerous. 

Gradually something like order was estab- 
lished. But the general excitement and jubila- 
tion lasted until the evening, when the entire city 
burst into a flood of light, almost every house 
being illuminated by such hasty means as could 
be provided on the spur of the moment. The 
thoroughfares were now paraded by endless 
crowds of sightseers, and giant processions and 
deputations, hurriedly improvised, wended their 
way through the jubilant throng toward the cas- 
tle, all bent upon giving some fresh and signal 
vent to their satisfaction at the termination of a 
suspense that had become well-nigh intolerable. 
Numerous versions of what the Emperor had 
said and done on confronting the council of sov- 
ereigns, some of a most preposterous nature, were 
floated and eagerly discussed among the people. 
Otherwise the sense of animosity against the sov- 
ereigns themselves which the events of the last 
few weeks had awakened in the population 
seemed to have vanished completely, and some of 
the more favored ones were even greeted with 
lusty cheers when they once more made their 
appearance in the streets. 

Strangely enough, one thought appeared for 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


275 


the moment to have entirely passed from the mind 
of the people. No one inquired now what had 
been the cause of the Emperor’s absence, or 
whence he had so suddenly and unexpectedly re- 
appeared. He was there, visible and in tangible 
shape, in their midst again, and this sufficed. 

During the evening it occurred to some of the 
enthusiastic souls to finish up the day’s excite- 
ments by proceeding en masse to the Victoria 
Hotel, under the Limes, and bringing Prince Ot- 
tomarck a grand ovation. In their view the great 
ex-Chancellor, and no other, could have brought 
about the happy event they were now celebrat- 
ing, and it was meet that he should be paid the 
honor which was his just due. 

The idea was seized with avidity, and once more 
the mad torrent took its headlong course, and 
the multitude collected in front of the Prince’s 
hotel. But this time disappointment was in store 
for the people, and they clamored in vain for their 
idol to appear. 

Prince Ottomarck was no longer in Berolin- 
gen. He had left the hotel as soon after the news 
of the Emperor’s safe return as the condition of 
the streets had permitted, and, driving in a closed 
carriage to the northern railway terminus, had 
chartered a special train to convey him back to 
Fritzensruh. 


276 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE ARMINIAN EMPEROR AND HIS 
CHANCELLOR. 

In less than two hours after the reappearance 
of the Arminian Emperor in his capital the news 
of his safe return had been flashed all over Europe. 
In the tremendous international complications 
that had arisen throughout the world since the 
day on which he strangely vanished from sight 
people had almost forgotten to speculate upon his 
fate. Having given him up for lost, they had no 
longer reckoned with the possibility of his return, 
and it took some time before the full bearing of 
the event upon the political situation was realized. 

Yet realized it was, perhaps soonest by those 
who had taken advantage of the EmperoPs ab- 
sence to plan the downfall of the mighty Empire 
that acknowledged his sovereignty. The position 
of these schemers had now become one of con- 
siderable difficulty. Franconia in particular 
found herself awkwardly situated. She had gone 
so far in her imperious demands that she could 
hardly retreat with dignity; yet to embark upon a 
war with a united Arminia was a contingency 
which she had never contemplated and which she 
now felt it necessary to avoid by every means 
diplomacy could provide. Russia, too, whose at- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


277 


titude during the last three weeks had been such 
as to cause alarm to every pacifically-disposed 
statesman in Europe, had her peace to make with 
the neighbor she had used so ill. Whether and 
how it would be accomplished was a question 
which was to exercise the minds of European 
statesmen in general, and Russian, Franconian, 
and Arminian statesmen in particular, for many 
days to come. 

For the moment, however, the gravest question 
of all, and the one upon which all these others 
hinged, seemed to be whether the return of the 
Emperor would put an end to the troubles Ar- 
minia was beset with at home. The situation in 
Noveria, so far as the immediate future was con- 
cerned, remained unaltered. It is true there was 
nothing now to stay the Government from pro- 
ceeding with the utmost rigor to quell the rebel- 
lion and annihilate the insurgent forces. But to 
do so effectually would not be possible without 
the employment of a considerable portion of the 
army required for the defense of the Empire itself, 
a fact to which its enemies must of necessity be 
alive. 

Such, then, was in brief the position the Em- 
peror found himself called upon to face upon his 
return to Berolingen, and he did so with charac- 
teristic promptitude and energy. While the peo- 
ple were exulting at the happy event which, ac- 


278 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


cording to their views, had with one stroke settled 
all difficulties, his Majesty was closeted with his 
Chancellor, listening to the reports of the heads 
of the various governmental departments, who 
had been hastily summoned to the castle for the 
purpose of enlightening the sovereign on the state 
of affairs generally. 

In the castle itself the aspect of things had mean- 
while undergone a marked change since the stir- 
ring scenes which had signalized its Imperial 
master’s re-entry. By far the greater number of 
the Princes were still within its walls, it being 
deemed unsafe for them to venture to pass through 
the streets until public feeling should have calmed 
down again. There was consequently still much 
stir and bustle in all parts of the building, but it 
was of a very different kind from that which had 
preceded it. In the corridors, at the grand en- 
trance and on the central staircase a host of Im- 
perial servants was busy removing the traces left 
by the memorable events of the afternoon, whilst 
the constant passing to and fro of officials be- 
tween the various offices of the household and 
the frequent arrivals and departures of messen- 
gers and orderlies passing between the Imperial 
Cabinet and the ministerial departments in the 
town lent the place a busy appearance which it 
had not known for many a week. 

In the palace, as well as in the cottage, there are 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


279 


certain not easily definable signs which denote un- 
mistakably the presence of the master, and they 
were now visible here. Voices were hushed and 
footsteps softened, whilst everyone, and particu- 
larly those who moved about in the proximity of 
the Imperial apartments, seemed to be on the 
alert, as if they expected every moment might 
bring them under the keen scrutiny of their sover- 
eign’s eye. There was a good deal of curiosity, 
and perhaps still more of anxiety, mixed with 
this general air of expectancy. The people of 
Berolingen were content with the mere fact that 
the Emperor had returned again, and did not 
trouble their minds — at least for the present — to 
inquire what had so long kept him away. But 
here, in the immediate entourage of the monarch, 
the conditions were different, and every mind 
was engrossed with the one thought: What had 
happened? What was going to happen? The 
Emperor had reappeared as mysteriously, if not 
as quietly, as he had vanished. But what had 
been the cause of his absence, and what would 
follow upon it? 

These questions formed the burden of every- 
one’s talk, wherever there was talk going on in 
the castle; that is to say, among the illustrious 
guests who were still assembled under its protect- 
ing roof, as well as among the lackeys and serv- 
ing-men in the kitchens and household offices; 


280 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


in the officers^ quarters as well as in the guard 
room. They were questions none could answer. 
His Majesty had as yet vouchsafed to open his 
lips to no one on the subject, and there was no 
one who dared question him. His first order 
after bidding his royal visitors welcome and ex- 
pressing — so one version has it — his profound re- 
gret that circumstances should have prevented 
him from appearing sooner to do the honors of 
his house in person had been to dispatch a mes- 
senger to the Dowager Empress, announcing his 
arrival and informing her Majesty that he would 
wait upon her as soon as the state of the streets 
permitted of his leaving the castle without fear of 
molestation. He had then thanked and gra- 
ciously dismissed those who had constituted 
themselves his escort through the streets of the 
capital, and, having turned to the assembled sov- 
ereigns and begged them, with a fine touch of 
irony, which must have caused them some uncom- 
fortable reflections, to excuse his further presence 
at their deliberations on the plea that they had 
been good enough to provide him with business 
of a more urgent and pressing nature to attend 
to, he had almost immediately withdrawn to his 
apartments, leaving the members of the august 
assembly to recover from their surprise and confu- 
sion as best they could. 

In the Imperial Cabinet, meanwhile. Count Ca- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


281 


pricius was undergoin-g an ordeal of an unenviable 
kind. His reception by the Emperor, when, after 
much difficulty, he reached the castle in obedi- 
ence to the Imperial summons, had been omi- 
nously cold and contemptuous. His Majesty had 
brusquely interrupted the warm speech in which 
he had endeavored to express his pleasure and 
relief at seeing his beloved master safe and sound 
in his capital again and had told him, with his 
characteristic bluntness, to eschew idle sentiment, 
for which the present moment was ill suited, and 
proceed at once to business. Report had then 
followed upon report, to all of which the Em- 
peror had listened attentively, but in silence. 

Occasionally an ominous frown gathered on 
his brow and he darted an angry look at the Chan- 
cellor, who stood by anxiously awaiting the result 
of this trying audience. But one after the other of 
the ministers and privy counselors entered the 
Imperial Cabinet, fulfilled his duty and was dis- 
missed with a wave of the hand, and still no word 
escaped the monarches lips that enabled the Chan- 
cellor to guess from what direction the wind was 
likely to blow. 

At heart Count Capricius had come prepared 
to witness a violent outburst of wrath on the part 
of his Imperial master, whose displeasure when 
things went awry was wont to vent itself in no 
measured terms. But this calm was worse than 


282 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the storm he had expected, and increased the 
sense of misgiving which filled him. 

It was strange to see this gray-headed Chan- 
cellor, with his fine martial bearing and command- 
ing figure, standing with a crestfallen air, humble 
and faltering, before the youthful monarch, who, 
as far as years go, might have been his grandson. 
Yet there was that about the latter which made 
you forget his lack of years and only remember 
his exalted station. The personality of the Ar- 
minian Emperor is perhaps as well known to the 
world in general as that of any other prominent 
European ruler. He has been described and dis- 
sected so often in the public prints of this and 
other countries that there is scarcely anything 
new left to say about him. Yet, curiously enough, 
one feature — and to my mind the most striking of 
all — has rarely, if ever, been dwelt upon in these 
multifarious descriptions. I mean the extraor- 
dinary resemblance he bears to his late grand- 
father, the great Emperor Willibald I. 

In stature he is indeed smaller than the illus- 
trious founder of the Arminian Empire. But in 
face his likeness to him is remarkable. The keen 
gray-blue eye, with its quick, penetrating glance, 
is the same, though it perhaps expresses more of 
the indomitable energy and stern will-power and 
somewhat less of the exceeding kindliness of heart 
which endeared the old Emperor, especially in 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


283 


his latter years, to everyone who knew him. The 
proud lines of the mouth, with its characteris- 
tically pursed under lip, and the graceful sweep 
of the fair moustache, the ends of which, boldly 
upturned, lend the whole countenance a certain 
air of manly resoluteness; all these traits recall 
the venerable monarch, whose face is still indel- 
ibly engraven in the hearts of the nation which he 
raised to a first power on earth. 

Much has been said of the brusque manner of 
the young Emperor Willibald, his contempt for 
what may be termed general conventionalities, 
and his disregard of the feelings of those who serve 
him. Maybe it is all just and true. But what of 
it? A character must be judged as a whole, 
whether it be the character of a common toiler of 
the earth or that of a ruler over forty-odd millions 
of men. And, taken as a whole, a finer specimen 
of his kind than Willibald II., Arminian Em- 
peror and King of Brandenburg, may be sought 
for in vain. That he is intensely proud no one 
can deny. But, even if there be a spice of arro- 
gance in his pride, it is, on the other hand, leav- 
ened with a stern sense of duty which raises it 
immeasurably high above the mere vapid silliness 
of ordinary conceit and vanity. Relentless of 
purpose, he spares himself as little as he does 
others in his pursuit of that which he has once de- 
termined to attain. Military to the core, like all 


284 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


his predecessors, with few exceptions, he carries 
the strict principles of discipline and subordina- 
tion into every business that happens to engage 
his attention — and to what kind of business, be 
it governmental, administrative, military, or 
purely social, has he not at some time or other 
given his personal attention? The world may 
sneer and snigger at the spectacle of a modern 
Harun al Raschid appearing at this latter end of 
our humdrum nineteenth century, or may affect 
virtuous indignation at seeing a monarch, young, 
self-confident, able, and untiringly active, repudi- 
ate the notions of his time, and, regardless of cus- 
tom and the claims and opinions of those who 
surround him, elect to stand forth alone, without 
props, a sufficient support in himself. 

After all, in this age of sovereign nonentities 
it is by no means an unimpressive sight to see a 
King who is not merely content to possess his 
crown, but is also determined to wear it; who 
not only performs the formal functions of his ex- 
alted office, but also accepts all its burdens and 
responsibilities. Such is the Emperor Willibald, 
and, whatever theoretical views his critics may 
entertain as to the most ideal form of government 
and similarly abstruse questions, they must give 
him credit for a personality as eminent and strik- 
ing as any known in the world^s history. 

No one was more keenly alive to the originality 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


285 


of the young Emperor^s character than the man 
who now stood before him in the Imperial Cabi- 
net, anxiously awaiting his judgment upon the 
conduct of affairs during his Majesty^s absence. 
That judgment came at last, and it was pro- 
nounced with a pithiness that savored almost of 
contempt. 

“Well, my dear Capricius,” the Emperor said, 
breaking silence at length, after the last of the 
ministerial reporters had accomplished his task 
and had been dismissed, “considering the short 
time you have been at work you have certainly 
managed to make a pretty mess of affairs.” 

He stood, as he spoke, with his arms crossed, 
confronting the burly Chancellor, with an expres- 
sion in his face that was rather humorously pitiful 
than angry or resentful. 

“Your Majesty will be pleased to consider,” 
the Chancellor stammered, “that the extraordi- 
nary difficulties with which we were faced ” 

“Nay,” interposed the Emperor, “I see no ex- 
traordinary difficulties, save those of your own 
creating. You have blundered, my dear Capri- 
cius, blundered deplorably; and your first and 
foremost blunder was to suppose that your Em- 
peror was a fool.” 

“Your Majesty ” 

“What, sir, did you not lead the world to think 
I had gone blindly on some fooPs errand, to treat 


286 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


in my own person, forsooth, with a mere handful 
of rebellious rogues, whom a company or two of 
my troops would have easily swept from the face 
of the earth? You have accomplished the feat 
of making your sovereign the laughing stock of 
Europe for the space of three whole weeks, and I 
owe you little thanks for it.’^ 

There was an angry flash in his eye, anT his lip 
curled disdainfully. The Chancellor stood silent. 
These signs of storm rather relieved him than 
otherwise. At least he knew where he was. But 
he could scarcely conceal his surprise at the Em- 
peror^s apparently accurate knowledge of what 
had occurred during his absence. 

'Tf your Majesty had only deigned to enlighten 
us,” he murmured, after a moment, respectfully. 

But he got no further. The Emperor turned 
upon him like lightning. 

"‘Deigned to enlighten you?” he cried, survey- 
ing him sternly from head to foot. “Am I to 
render account of my doings to my servants? 
When I think fit to enlighten you. Count Capri- 
cius, you may be assured that you will receive 
enlightenment as full and complete as you can 
desire. For the present let it suffice you to know 
that I have been busy during these three weeks 
in mending what you and your precious ministers 
have been at pains to spoil. Unfortunately,” he 
added, “no mending will undo the disgrace my 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


287 


Empire has sustained in the meanwhile. By 
heaven, to think that a ragged and undisciplined 
Noverian rabble should have succeeded for three 
whole weeks in bidding defiance to the entire 
forces of royal Brandenburg! I could forgive 
and forget everything but that.” 

The thought seemed to agitate him deeply, far 
more than the insolence of Franconia, which he 
treated with contempt, or the animosity of Rus- 
sia, in whose friendship he had never believed. 
The Chancellor, an Arminian soldier, with all an 
Arminian soldieFs instincts of blind submission 
and self-repression, watched his sovereign si- 
lently, as he strode angrily up and down the room, 
venting his displeasure every now and again in 
occasional exclamations and expletives which 
were far from complimentary to those to whom 
they were applied. 

“I presume,” Count Capricius at last ventured 
to remark, “that your Majesty will order the 
troops concentrated in Noveria to proceed to im- 
mediate action.” 

“Will I do so?” the Emperor said, stopping 
short in his impatient promenade. “I have done 
so, sir.” 

The Chancellor looked up with an air of sur- 
prise. 

“But you remind me,” his Majesty continued, 
“that it would be well to ascertain whether my 


288 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


messenger has reached the Ministry of War in 
safety. I made out the order en route for the 
castle, and handed it for instant dispatch to the 
young lieutenant of the Third Uhlans who rode 
next to my carriage. Let an orderly proceed at 
once to the ministry. And mark, I will have no 
treating or parleying with these insolent rebels. 
I demand instant, unconditional surrender and 
submission to such sentence as the military courts 
may pronounce. Otherwise no quarter. You 
understand me? Let this be seen to.’^ 

While the Chancellor hurried into the ante- 
chamber to carry out the Imperial commands, the 
Emperor resumed his walking exercise with re- 
newed vigor. He evidently felt the necessity of 
working off the angry feelings that had been ac- 
cumulating within him. When the Chancellor 
returned he wore a thoughtful look. 

“Your Majesty is aware, of course,” he said, 
“that the Duke of Cumbermere himself has as- 
sumed the command of the insurgent forces?” 
“Well?” 

“It might give rise to awkward questions were 
his Royal Highness to fall into our hands. 
Would it not be expedient, therefore, in view of 

possible contingencies, to facilitate ” 

“The Duke’s escape?” the Emperor exclaimed. 
“On the contrary, I desire that every means shall 
be adopted to prevent such a calamity.” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


289 


“But if we secure his Royal Highness^ per- 
son ” 

“He shall be dealt with as traitors deserve,” the 
Emperor said sternly. “Were my own brother 
guilty of the perfidy of which this precious Duke 
has been guilty I would make an example of 
him.” 

“But the courts of Great Britain and Austria?” 
the Chancellor said, dismayed at this inflexible 
determination, in which he saw fresh and incal- 
culable dangers. “Has your Majesty reflected 
upon the inevitable complications that must ensue 
in such an event?” 

“Let us leave the courts of Great Britain and 
Austria to act for themselves when the occasion 
arises,” the Emperor replied grimly. “I fancy 
they will not be inclined to balk me here. It sur- 
prises me somewhat,” he added, “to find that the 
Duke of Cumbermere possesses so anxious a 
champion in the Imperial Chancellor, It used 
to be otherwise.” 

“Your Majesty can scarcely charge me with 
being the Duke’s champion,” Count Capricius 
answered, nettled by the ironical tone of the Em- 
peror. “Your Majesty must concede that I have 
never placed any trust in his Royal Highness’ 
sincerity in desiring an amicable settlement of 
the questions pending between him and the 


290 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


Crown of Brandenburg. If your Majesty has 
been deceived — — ” 

“The fault is mine? Is that it?’’ the Emperor 
said. “On my faith, I almost despair of ever con- 
vincing you that my head is better than yours. 
Let me tell your Excellency, however, that, if you 
do me but scant justice, you certainly overrate 
both yourself and his Royal Highness the Duke 
of Cumbermere. I am not so easily led by the 
nose as your Excellency appears inclined to sup- 
pose. Whil^ his Highness has been plotting and 
scheming I have acted — ^with what success the 
result will show.” 

There was a shade almost of doubt in the tone 
of these last words, which struck the Chancellor 
and emboldened him, perhaps more than the re- 
sentment he felt at the Emperor’s scathing refer- 
ence to his estimate of his own efficiency, to haz- 
ard a piece of sarcasm, for which he might have 
paid dearly. 

“Your Majesty, then,” he said, “has practically 
settled the Noverian question single-handed?” 

The Emperor regarded him for a moment with 
a severe glance. 

“Your shrewdness does you credit. Count Ca- 
pricius,” he said. “But honor to whom honor is 
due. If the Noverian question should indeed be 
settled — and God grant it may so prove — it will 
not be my doing alone.” 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


291 


“I can only join heartily in your Majesty^s 
prayer,” the Chancellor said, “that all may prove 
as your Majesty anticipates.” 

“But meanwhile you reserve your own opinion 
as to the likelihood of this happy consummation?” 
the Emperor observed, with a good-humoredness 
that surprised his minister. 

“I cannot deny,” the Chancellor rejoined, “that 
the fact that the Duke of Cumbermere is at this 
moment bearing arms against your Majesty 
seems scarcely to augur well for th^ fulfillment 
of your Majesty’s wishes.” 

“But if we capture and hang this venturesome 
Duke as a rebel?” the Emperor asked, wifh a cool- 
ness that caused the Chancellor to start back 
aghast. 

“God forbid!” he cried. “Your Majesty can- 
not seriously contemplate such an act. It would 
alienate every loyal heart Brandenburg has gained 
in the annexed kingdom during all these years. 
Nay, it might even be said ” 

He stopped short, hesitating to give expression 
to his thought. 

“Pray proceed,” the Emperor said. 

“It might be said, sire,” the Chancellor con- 
tinued, “that this rebellion in Noveria had been 
deliberately planned by the Crown of Branden- 
burg itself in order to ensnare the Duke of Cum- 
bermere and cause him to forfeit his liberty and 


292 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

his life to the power which has despoiled him of 
his possessions.” 

The Emperor fixed his eye searchingly upon 
the speaker’s face. 

“Which means?” he said curtly. 

“I pray your Majesty not to misunderstand 
me,” Count Capricius said, conscious of the deli- 
cate ground on which he was venturing. “Of 
course no one who knows your Majesty will credit 
so monstrous a story. But unfortunately the 
world at large judges by appearances only, and I 
fear that your Majesty’s well-known relations 
with the Baron von Arnold, who is believed to 
have had a weighty voice in the councils of the 
Duke, may, unless satisfactorily explained, be 
liable to a most unhappy misconstruction.” 

“Ha! What about this Baron von Arnold?” 
the Emperor exclaimed abruptly, apparently 
quite ignoring the insinuation conveyed in the 
Chancellor’s last words. “My Government, I am 
informed, have been mighty eager to court-mar- 
tial the friends of the Duke of Cumbermere. I 
trust, at least, that they have bestowed some at- 
tention in this quarter too.” 

“Your Majesty may be quite easy on that 
score,” the Chancellor replied. “Baron von Ar- 
nold has been kept under the strictest surveil- 
lance. I can answer for it that no communication 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 293 

whatever has passed between Arnoldshausen and 
the Duke of Cumbermere or his agents.” 

“A fig for your surveillance,” cried the Em- 
peror, in great dudgeon. “What if I tell you 
that, to my certain knowledge, this Baron von 
Arnold has until three weeks ago been in daily 
intimate communication with his Royal Highness 
the Duke of Cumbermere — nay, more, that he 
has just successfully eluded the vigilance of your 
watchers and escaped from Arnoldshausen to 
join the Duke?” 

Count Capricius stood dumbfounded. 

“Your Majesty astonishes me,” he stammered. 
“It was only yesterday that I received the most 
reassuring reports from the agents charged to 
watch the movements of the Baron. Unless your 
Majesty has been strangely misinformed ” 

“Pshaw! It is your information that is defi- 
cient, not mine,” the Emperor said. 

“Then,” exclaimed the Chancellor, “if your 
Majesty will be guided by my counsel you will 
issue instant orders for the definite arrest of the 
man whose sister has recently become the wife of 
Baron von Arnold. I will stake my head that no 
other than Doctor Georg Hofer, your Majesty’s 
private secretary, is at the bottom of this foul 
conspiracy.” 

“There I am inclined to agree with you,” the 
Emperor remarked dryly. “But not so fast, my 


294 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


dear Chancellor. There is a person who is just 
now of even greater consequence to us than Doc- 
tor Georg Hofer. I mean the Baroness von Ar- 
nold herself. I have reason to believe that the 
Duke of Cumbermere possesses no stancher 
friend in the world than the wife of Baron Fred- 
erick von Arnold.” 

‘T rejoice to see that your Majesty has at last 
recognized this important fact,” the Chancellor 
said. 

“At last?” the Emperor retorted. “Had I ever 
doubted it, Count Capricius, believe me, much of 
that which has now become history would never 
have come to pass. But enough of this subject,” 
he broke off. “We are losing valuable time. I 
have no more need of your Excellency's services 
for the present. There is work here,” pointing 
to the mass of documents and reports piled up in 
a huge heap upon the Imperial writing table, “suf- 
ficient to occupy me until we meet again.” 

“But the Franconian demands?” the Chancel- 
lor inquired, somewhat aghast at this abrupt ter- 
mination of an audience which so far left him no 
wiser than he had been before. “I beg to remind 
your Majesty that the term stipulated for the defi- 
nite answer to this insolent ultimatum expires at 
ten o^clock to-morrow morning. Has your Maj- 
esty considered ” 

“Considered?” said the Emperor, with flashing 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 2dS 

eyes. “What is there to consider? If my pres- 
ence at the head of my army is not answer super- 
abundant to impertinences of this character, let 
his Excellency the Franconian Ambassador 
fetch his answer from me in person. By heaven, 
he shall not lack it.” 

He waved his hand imperiously, in token of 
dismissal, and the Chancellor, bowing deferen- 
tially, retired. At the door, however, he turned 
back once more. 

“And with reference to the Baroness von Ar- 
nold,” he said, “I may assume that I have your 
Majesty^s authority to order the immediate arrest 
of this lady?” 

“Nay, my dear Chancellor,” said the Emperor, 
“it is not my custom to adopt such drastic meas- 
ures against ladies. Moreover, your suggestion, 
as usual, comes somewhat late. I have already 
issued my instructions with regard to the Baron- 
ess von Arnold to one upon whose skill and dis- 
cretion I have reason to place implicit confidence. 
He is empowered to convey my commands to the 
Baroness in such form as will render them more 
palatable than your Excellency might be inclined 
to make them.” 

“Then the Baroness 

“Will be in Berolingen to-morrow,” the Em- 
peror answered briefly, turning his back upon 
the minister. 


296 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

Still the latter tarried. 

“May I venture to ask/^ he said, “who it is that 
your Majesty has thus honored with your confi- 
dence?” 

The Emperor raised his eyebrows as if in sur- 
prise at the audacity of the inquiry. Then he 
strode deliberately across the space that sepa- 
rated him from his bold questioner, and stood 
facing him for several seconds with an expression 
which made him regret his temerity. 

The Chancellor prepared himself for an explo- 
sion of wrath. But he proved mistaken. 

“I will tell you, sir,” the Emperor said at last, 
in sharp, cutting tones. “It is the man to whom 
I perhaps owe it that I still possess the crown I 
wear, no thanks to your Excellency and the rest 
of my ministers.” 

With these words he turned abruptly on his 
heel and left the Chancellor standing at the thresh- 
old, confused and abashed. Whether the latter 
understood to whom the Emperor was referring 
is a matter for conjecture. But he bit his lip fu- 
riously, and withdrew in silence. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


297 


CHAPTER XV. 

IN THE IMPERIAL ANTE-CHAMBER. 

Berolingen had slept at last upon the exciting 
events of the twenty-fifth of June, and the capital 
had once more resumed its ordinary appearance. 
Gossip of every description was still rife among all 
classes of the inhabitants as to the possible conse- 
quences of the momentous crisis through which 
the country had just passed. Rumors, springing 
no one knew whence, that the Government had 
fallen, that the Imperial Chancellor had been dis- 
missed in disgrace, and that some vast, far-reach- 
ing conspiracy had been unmasked, in which per- 
sonages of the most exalted station were involved 
and which had aimed at nothing less than the 
complete overthrow of the Imperial supremacy, 
were being busily weighed and discussed in the 
cafes and in the streets, in the places of public 
business and in private circles. But, inasmuch 
as they were practically no more than the echoes 
of the same somber convictions which had laid 
hold of the public mind and exercised it during 
the past three weeks, their effect was harmless 
enough. 

A sense of absolute security had now come over 
the people, and the only place where there was 
still real excitement bubbling among them was 


298 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the Bourse — a fact that will scarcely occasion sur- 
prise when it is remembered that, according to the 
careful computations of a well-known contempo- 
rary statistician, the unprecedented fluctuations 
in the public stocks and securities of Europe on 
that one single day represented a sum of no less 
than two hundred millions sterling. The cost to 
financial Europe of these three eventful weeks of 
the world^s history has been estimated by the 
same eminent authority at a total figure of such 
magnitude that it would take the ordinary reader^s 
breath away were I to mention it. 

The busiest man in the whole Arminian Empire 
that day was the Emperor himself. Yet he of all 
others should have been sorely in need of rest. 
He had not snatched even a quarter of an hour’s 
sleep during the night, but had worked uninter- 
ruptedly at the task he had set himself with his 
usual dogged persistency and disregard of every- 
thing but the stern call of duty until the day 
dawned and the castle was again astir. At six 
o’clock the chief of his military cabinet had ar- 
rived, and remained in conference with his Maj- 
esty until eight, leaving him, as he admiringly 
confessed, as fresh and vigorous as if he had just 
risen from an eight hours’ undisturbed slumber. 
Then minister after minister had followed to re- 
ceive the Imperial comments upon the voluminous 
documents submitted the previous afternoon. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR 


299 


every one of which the Emperor had carefully 
perused, mastering its contents, however intri- 
cate, down to the very smallest detail with that 
extraordinary facility that never ceased to aston- 
ish those who knew him. 

Until noon he had been thus occupied, with but 
few intervals, devoted to the reception of the vari- 
ous Princes and Princesses of the Imperial fam- 
ily and one or two favored members of the diplo- 
matic corps, among the latter in particular Sir 
Edward Hammer, with whom he had conversed 
for some time very graciously. 

Toward ten o’clock his Excellency the Fran- 
conian Ambassador had arrived at the castle, 
causing an extra flutter of excitement among 
the groups waiting in the Imperial ante-rooms 
and in the corridors and lobbies outside. The 
object of his visit was well known, and every one 
remained on the tiptoe of anxious expectation 
during the few minutes that he was closeted with 
the Emperor. 

It was a remarkably brief interview, and its re- 
sult could only be guessed at. The Ambassador 
had entered the Imperial presence with an air of 
uneasiness which he endeavored in vain to carry 
off by an extra display of pomposity. When he 
issued forth again, scarcely five minutes after- 
ward, his face was pale, his lips were compressed, 
and his whole demeanor was expressive of in- 


300 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tense agitation. He hurried through the ante- 
room, taking no heed of the Chamberlain who 
escorted him with all due ceremony to the door 
of his carriage. 

What had passed between him and the Em- 
peror during those few minutes no one knew, nor 
ever learned. The next person who was ushered 
into his Majesty^s presence, immediately after the 
Ambassador had left, found him quietly engaged 
in sticking tiny flags of various colors into an im- 
mense military chart of Franconia, which lay 
spread out upon a low table in the middle of the 
Imperial study. To all appearances he had been 
thus occupied for the last half hour or so, and be- 
yond a certain grim smile of satisfaction that hov- 
ered about his lips there was nothing to indicate 
that he had recently passed through any unusual 
emotion. 

It may not be uninteresting, however, in this 
connection to recall two significant paragraphs 
which appeared on the evening of that day in the 
Government organs of Arminia and Franconia 
respectively. 

The latest edition of the Berolingen Official 
Gazette of that day contained the following notice : 

“His Majesty the Emperor worked for several hours 
during the morning with the chief of his Military 
Cabinet, and issued orders of an important character 
respecting the concentration of the Imperial forces. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


301 


All leaves of absence granted to officers in the Im- 
perial army have been peremptorily cancelled, and 
the annual levy of recruits has been ordered to take 
place immediately. His Majesty subsequently re- 
ceived his Excellency the Franconian Ambassador in 
a short audience.” 

The Journal of the Government issued the same 
evening at Patropolis brought the following re- 
assuring piece of news: 

“Satisfactory explanations have now been forth- 
coming from the Arminian Government with regard 
to the frontier questions and the undue amassing of 
troops in the border garrisons. His Majesty the Ar- 
minian Emperor has given our Ambassador at the 
court of Berolingen personally the most explicit as- 
surances of his friendly and pacific intentions, and 
has expressed his regret at the unfortunate misun- 
derstanding that has arisen. The incident is now 
closed.” 

But the audience of the Franconian Ambassa- 
dor, with its abrupt termination, was only one 
among the many excitements that set all brains 
in the castle a-thinking and all lips a-whispering 
that morning. Nor was it by any means the in- 
cident that gave rise to most speculation. Rumors 
of the Emperor’s decision to adopt stringent 
measures against all those who were suspected of 
having aided and abetted the Duke of Cumber- 
mere in his treasonable proceedings had reached 
the castle, and were discussed on all hands with 


302 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the Utmost interest. The quasi-arrest of the 
Baroness von Arnold, whose alleged secret machi- 
nations were currently reported to have deeply in- 
censed the Emperor, was understood to be but a 
preliminary to a host of other arrests shortly to 
be expected, and persons of every degree and 
kind were named as being on the list of these 
suspects. 

The probable fate of Doctor Georg Hofer, the 
Imperial Private Secretary, was in particular a 
subject of eager conjecture. It was known that 
soon after the Emperor’s return Doctor Hofer 
had solicited an audience of his Majesty, which 
had been peremptorily refused. Failing in his 
attempt to gain speech of his Imperial master, 
the Doctor had then resorted to the expedient 
of addressing a letter to his Majesty, which, how- 
ever, had been returned in like manner, unopened, 
with the curt notification that the Emperor would 
hold no communication with his secretary until 
such time as he should himself appoint. 

As the morning wore on fresh topics of interest 
arose, which diverted the general attention from 
the Imperial Secretary. Telegrams from head- 
quarters in Noveria began to arrive in quick suc- 
cession, bringing details of the movements of the 
Imperial troops. The Emperor’s orders to pro- 
ceed to attack the insurgent forces had been 
promptly obeyed, and already during the night 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


303 


news had come in of skirmishes between portions 
of the rebel forces and the advance detachments 
of the Imperial army. 

The result of the contest was of course a fore- 
gone conclusion. In spite of their numbers, 
which had increased enormously during these 
three weeks of inactivity on the part of the Ar- 
minian Government, and in spite, too, of the fact 
that the country folk in the Noverian province 
sided more or less openly with the partisans of the 
old dynasty, especially since the report had spread 
that the young Duke of Cumbermere himself was 
at their head, these untrained and undisciplined 
rebels could stand no chance whatever against 
the regular forces opposed to them. But the 
Emperor, so it was rumored, was determined to 
effect the capture of the Duke of Cumbermere at 
all costs, and had issued commands to direct the 
attack in such wise as to prevent the possibility 
of the Duke^s escape. Hence, for all that was 
known, it might be evening before any definite 
news of the destruction of the insurgent forces 
arrived. 

Meanwhile everyone was discussing what would 
happen to the Duke when he was captured. 
Would he be treated as an ordinary rebel? 
Would he forfeit his liberty, perhaps his life? 
And if so, what would be the consequences? 
The Emperor, all the world knew, would brook 


304 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


no interference with his own affairs nor allow 
any considerations of sentiment, or even policy, 
to weigh against that which he deemed to be just 
and right. Yet the Duke, although he belonged 
to a deposed dynasty, and had, like his father be- 
fore him, throughout all these years steadily re- 
fused to hold any intercourse with the European 
courts, because he considered that they had 
shamefully acquiesced in the act of despoliation 
which had deprived him of his hereditary rights, 
still possessed powerful friends and relatives 
among the reigning families, who would be sure 
to intercede in his favor. Hence complications 
might arise, leading heaven knows where to. In 
short, in this, as in every other direction, the same 
question confronted these anxious speculators: 
How was it all going to end? 

Had they but known it, the end was even then 
preparing. 

Towards one o^clock the Minister of War ar- 
rived at the Castle, followed almost immediately 
by the Imperial Chancellor. They met in the 
grand vestibule, and after conversing privately for 
a few moments, proceeded together to the Im- 
perial ante-chamber. 

As they passed through the somewhat crowded 
room, those who respectfully made way for them 
scanned their faces with eager curiosity. It was 
evident that matters of paramount interest had 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


305 


brought them here at this hour, and from the 
pleased expression on the countenance of the War 
Minister it was not difficult to guess that news of 
some decisive action in Noveria had arrived. 

The Chancellor’s face was grave, and there was 
a touch of anxiety in his eyes. But he, too, could 
scarcely conceal the pleasurable excitement that 
was working within him, and when, in response 
to a whispered query addressed to him in passing 
by a grey-headed old warrior in a field-marshal's 
uniform, he was seen to hold up a telegraphic dis- 
patch with a significant smile, all doubt as to the 
nature of the business that had brought him and 
his colleague to the castle was over. The old 
field-marshal was immediately surrounded by a 
dozen eager questioners, and before the two min- 
isters had reached the Imperial aide-de-camp, 
whose duty it was to announce them to his Maj- 
esty, the news that the rebel forces with their 
leader had made unconditional surrender was in 
every one’s possession. 

That the Noverian rebellion, like the revolution 
in Berolingen, should have ended without blood- 
shed was news so gladdening that for the moment 
the graver question of the capture of the Duke of 
Cumbermere was entirely lost sight of. In an in- 
stant every one was excitedly commenting upon 
the welcome tidings, and exchanging congratula- 
tory observations with his neighbor. 


306 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


The incident of the entry of the two ministers 
had engrossed the general attention to such a de- 
gree that the arrival of another personage, who 
had followed almost at their heels, had passed 
quite unobserved ; a fact the more remarkable in 
that the personage in question was totally un- 
known to every one present, and would therefore, 
under other circumstances, have been the subject 
of the keenest scrutiny to the occupants of the 
Imperial ante-chamber. 

This newcomer, in fact, was Sir John Temple- 
ton. Taking advantage of the momentary delay 
in the progress of the two ministers through the 
ante-room, he had managed to reach the aide-de- 
camp on duty at the door to the Emperor’s apart- 
ments before they did, and he had just made him- 
self known to that officer when the Chancellor 
and his colleague came up and demanded to be 
announced to his Majesty. 

Sir John stepped back with a bow, to which 
the Imperial Chancellor responded with a frown 
of displeasure. The aide-de-camp disappeared 
into the Emperor’s cabinet, and returned almost 
immediately, leaving the door to the Imperial 
sanctum open. The Chancellor and the Minister 
of War stepped forward as a matter of course to 
enter, when to their astonishment the aide-de- 
camp barred their passage with a deprecatory ges- 
ture. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 307 

“I beg your Excellencies’ pardon,” he said. 
“His Majesty awaits Sir John Templeton.” 

And beckoning to that personage, he ushered 
him into the Emperor’s cabinet, leaving the two 
dignitaries standing upon the threshold speech- 
less with surprise and chagrin. The Chancellor 
in particular was white with disappointment and 
rage, and when a moment later the officer reap- 
peared and once more took up his position at the 
door he so far forgot himself as to take him to task 
for having neglected his duty. 

“His Majesty,” he said, in a voice loud enough 
to be heard throughout the chamber, “cannot 
have understood that two of his ministers are 
waiting to speak with him on state affairs of the 
utmost urgency. You will be good enough to 
ascertain if it is the Emperor’s pleasure to delay 
receiving dispatches of the most vital moment 
to the Empire which we have to lay before his 
Majesty.” 

The officer acquiesced silently, and once more 
entered the Imperial cabinet. He was back again 
in a twinkling, closing the door carefully behind 
him. The group in the ante-room had meanwhile 
drawn as close to the two Ministers as respect 
would allow in order to hear the result of this 
somewhat venturesome proceeding on the part of 
the audience-seekers. 

“Well?” queried the Chancellor, as the aide-de- 


308 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

camp hesitated with evident embarrassment. 
“What are his Majesty^s commands?” 

“The same that I have already communicated 
to your Excellency. His Majesty is engaged on 
important business with Sir John Templeton,” the 
officer said, with manifest evasion, which exas- 
perated the Chancellor. 

“What were his Majesty’s words, sir?” he asked 
sternly. 

“His Majesty’s commands to me were that I 
was to go to the devil,” the aide-de-camp an- 
swered, now with perfect imperturbability. 

“Is that all?” the Chancellor asked, biting his 

lip. 

“His Majesty desires your Excellencies to await 
his pleasure,” the officer replied. 

“Are these his Majesty’s own words, sir, or 
yours?” the Chancellor asked haughtily. 

“They are mine,” the officer rejoined quietly. 
“His Majesty’s own words were: ‘Tell their Ex- 
cellencies that they shall wait until they are blue 
in the face, if it so pleases me.’ ” 

There was not a trace of humor in the expres- 
sion with which the officer conveyed this uncere- 
monious piece of intelligence. But it caused a 
slight titter among the listeners grouped around, 
which, however, was instantly suppressed. It is 
a dangerous proceeding in Arminia to laugh at 
the discomfiture of an Imperial Chancellor — at 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


309 


least, it is unwise to do so before his resignation 
has been handed in and accepted — and these wary 
courtiers and officials knew and well appreciated 
this important fact. 

Disdaining to notice the involuntary manifesta- 
tion of mirth called forth by the dry delivery of a 
message which had probably never been intended 
for literal transmission, the Chancellor and his 
colleague retired to a window recess, where they 
remained conversing until it should please his Ar- 
minian Majesty to grant them the desired inter- 
view. 

They had not to wait long. After about ten 
minutes, the Emperor^s bell rang. The aide-de- 
camp on duty darted once more into the cabinet, 
and issuing forth again at once summoned the two 
Ministers to his Majesty^s presence. 

They glanced at one another in surprise, for the 
man on whose account they had been kept waiting 
had apparently not quitted the Emperor. Was he 
to be present while important affairs of state were 
being discussed? Such a thing would be without 
precedent in the history of Arminian govern- 
ments. 

But there was no time to demur now, even had 
their Excellencies been so inclined. The eccen- 
tricities of their Imperial master were incalcula- 
ble, and they had no alternative but to submit to 
them in patience. 


310 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

THE REVELATION: PART ONE. 

While these little scenes, trifling perhaps in the 
view of the ordinary reader, but of exceeding in- 
terest to those whom they concerned, were being 
enacted in the Imperial ante-chamber, two of the 
persons about whose fate, unknown to themselves, 
so many minds were busy speculating, sat closeted 
in the library, which, as the reader may remember 
from a former description, separated the abode 
of the Imperial secretary from the apartments of 
the Emperor. 

Those two persons were Doctor Georg Hofer 
and his beautiful sister, the Baroness von Arnold. 

The arrival of the young Baroness at the castle, 
under the courteous escort of Sir John Temple- 
ton, had passed almost without notice in the bus- 
tle and confusion that prevailed everywhere save 
in the immediate entourage of the Emperor him- 
self. 

It was nearly five months since brother and sis- 
ter had met, and during that period momentous 
changes had taken place in both their lives — ^how 
momentous, indeed, neither of them at that mo- 
ment realized. The thoughts of the one were full 
of the bitterness which had accumulated within 
him in the course of these last few weeks; those 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 311 

of the other were divided between her yearning 
desire to conciliate the affection of the brother 
whom she had so deeply offended, and her ago- 
nizing anxiety as to the fate of the husband who 
had superseded him in her heart. 

As she gazed upon the stem, implacable face 
opposite her, something akin to a feeling of re- 
sentment arose within the Baroness at the thought 
that in this her moment of dire trouble the brother 
upon whom she might have hoped to lean for 
support should have nothing but reproaches to 
address to her. For he had reproached her, al- 
most before a word of welcome had passed his 
lips; had reproached her with her marriage, and 
with its consequences, not the least among which 
he declared was the destruction of his dearest and 
most cherished hope. 

What hope? Certain recollections came back 
to her, of differences between them, which she had 
always regarded lightly, of certain schemes, from 
which she had shrunk instinctively, though but 
half conscious of their real import. Indeed, what 
had she really known of the plans of this brother 
of hers? She had never learned enough of their 
nature either to approve or disapprove of them. 
How, then, could she have been the means of 
thwarting them? 

But she had no mind at present to dwell upon 
these thoughts. What she had learned within 


312 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


the last few minutes had bewildered her senses, 
and she could fix her mind upon nothing save the 
one question : What had taken her husband from 
her side? He had left her suddenly, almost with- 
out warning, that previous morning after their 
short conversation on the terrace of Arnoldshau- 
sen, on a mission, as he had said, of paramount 
importance to the Duke of Cumbermere himself. 
It was all he would tell her, excepting to bid her 
be tranquil, and assure her that he was venturing 
into no danger; that he would not be separated 
from her for longer than a day at the worst, and 
that then she should judge him. 

It was these last words that kept ringing in 
her ears — now more than ever, since this per- 
emptory summons to Berolingen, which had 
startled her indescribably, in spite of the perfect 
courtesy and profound respect of the messenger 
who had brought it, and who had escorted her to 
the capital. She had not dared question him as to 
the whereabouts of her husband, nor had he open- 
ed his lips to her on any other subject but that 
of her brother, of whose safety he had been at 
pains to assure her — ^why, she had not known un- 
til thfe moment. The stupendous events that had 
taken place during these three weeks of supreme 
happiness to herself — a happiness that would have 
been perfect but for the growing fear that she had 
forever forfeited her brother's love — the disap- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


313 


pearance of the Arminian Emperor and its in- 
numerable far-reaching consequences, the rising 
in Noveria, unfortunate Noveria, her brother’s 
precarious position in Berolingen, and the treach- 
ery and deception to which he had fallen a victim ; 
she had learned all this within the last few min- 
utes from his own lips, and it had burst upon her 
with such overwhelming force that she could as 
yet scarcely realize it. 

“Georg,” she murmured at last, “it was cruel of 
you to leave me all this while without news. If 
I have made my own choice of happiness, can it 
justify you in casting me off, in severing the bond 
that has so long united us?” 

He looked at her in surprise, and rising from 
his seat went over to her. 

“I don’t understand,” he said. “It is you, not 
I, that have kept silence these three weeks, Marie. 

All my letters have remained unanswered ” 

He stopped short, struck by the puzzled expres- 
sion on her face. “Marie,” he exclaimed, “is it 
possible that these letters have never been per- 
mitted to reach you, that you have been left in 
ignorance of all these inexplicable events? Ah, 
whose was the hand that intercepted them?” 

“No word has reached me from you,” she an- 
swered, with a troubled look, “since that terrible 
letter in which you threatened me with your curse, 
if I persisted in giving my hand to the man I 


314 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


loved. It was cruel, Georg; and it was not wise,” 
she added with a flash of pride. ‘We are of the 
same blood, and more easily led than driven.” 

The words seemed to incense him. He stepped 
towards her, and seized her hand almost roughly. 

“Do you know what you have done, child?” 
he said, gazing at her with a look of stern anger. 
“You have ruined the last hope of the house of 
Noveria. Its fortunes were in your hands, and 
you have destroyed them for the sake of this beg- 
garly fortune-hunter, who has forsaken the cause 
of his country and basely betrayed the Prince he 
had sworn to serve.” 

The Baroness fell back with blanched lips. The 
reproach against herself was so startling that it 
made her momentarily forget the insult to her 
husband by which it was followed. 

“I?” she exclaimed. “Surely this is madness. 
How can my heart’s choice have affected the for- 
tunes of Noveria?” 

“How?” he said, still retaining his grasp on her 
wrist in the passionate anger that seemed to pos- 
sess him. “Are you still blind? Do you know 
what first caused the Emperor to cool in his 
friendship towards his private secrtary?” 

He pronounced his title in a tone of lofty con- 
tempt, which left little doubt as to the value it 
possessed in his estimation. But the Baroness 
scarcely noticed it. She hung upon his lips with 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


315 


a shrinking dread of that which might fall from 
them. 

‘‘It was you,” he continued. “Your refusal to 
follow me to Berolingen, which he attributed to 
my influence, first kindled his wrath, and it was 
from that moment that his coldness and distrust 
commenced — ^to end in this.” 

A strange, pained look crept into the eyes of 
the Baroness. 

“Then it was at the Emperor^s instance,” she 
said in a low voice, “that you suggested my set- 
tling in the capital six months ago?” 

“He had seen you,” he answered. 

“Seen me?” 

“Twice.” 

“When?” 

“Once in the Wettinian capital, and again a 
month later at Castel, where you came to meet 
me. Do you remember my companion on those 
occasions. Count Ravensburg, whose apparently 
shy and retiring habits excited your curiosity? It 
was the Emperor. The country was clamoring for 
his marriage, and he had set his heart on visiting 
the courts of Arminia in disguise, in order to 
judge for himself of the charms of those among 
whom it was proposed that he should select an Im- 
perial consort. After Castel his interest in these 
secret expeditions suddenly waned, until your re- 
fusal to join me in the Arminian capital, when it 


316 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


revived once more. Then he again resumed these 
journeys, but thenceforward he went alone.” 

The Baroness stood silent, seemingly unable 
to grasp the full meaning of his words. 

“And what would have occurred, had I con- 
sented to live in this place, which I have learned 
to hate as the hearth of all my country’s misfor- 
tunes?” she asked at last, without removing her 
earnest eyes from his. 

“What would have occurred?” he ejaculated 
passionately. “You would have had the Armin- 
ian Emperor at your feet.” 

“For how long?” she asked. 

“For how long?” he echoed. 

“Yes; for how long?” she repeated. “Do you 
believe I would have concealed from him the ab- 
horrence with which his very name inspires me?” 

His lip curled disdainfully. 

“Just because you would not have concealed it,” 
he said, “I knew that he would have been capti- 
vated by a charm of double strength. Do you 
imagine I have studied him and his nature all 
these weary months in vain?” 

“His nature?” she said, with a touch of angry 
scorn. “You speak only of him. But what of 
me? Have not you yourself taught me to hate 
this man and all that pertains to him? And do 
you suppose his love, even had it touched my 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


317 


heart, would have been powerful enough to re- 
move the cause for that hatred?” 

“What if it had removed it, Marie?” he said. 
“What if the Emperor’s heart had yielded what 
the endeavors of years have failed to obtain from 
him and his predecessors: the restoration of No- 
veria to its rightful sovereign? By heaven,” he 
cried bitterly, “had you but known it, this was in- 
deed in your power to achieve; and with my aid 
you would have achieved it.” 

“At what price?” she asked coldly. 

“At the price of your hand and heart,” he an- 
swered. 

She had known what he would answer, before 
he spoke; yet the words struck her like a blow. 

“Georg, Georg,” she exclaimed. “And you 
would have had me barter myself for this?” 

“Have you not flung away what is far more 
precious for a name that will be uttered with loath- 
ing wherever true hearts beat for Noveria and her 
Prince?” he cried. “For this renegade and traitor 
you have sacrificed — faugh,” he broke off, “the 
thought maddens me even now.” 

He would have turned away from her with a 
gesture of impotent rage. But she had risen at 
his last words, and now stood before him, with 
heaving bosom and flashing eyes, a beautiful 
counterpart of himself. For a moment neither 
of them spoke, but remained facing each other in 


318 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

total silence. Indeed, so deeply engrossed were 
they in themselves that, in spite of the stillness 
which reigned, they did not notice that the door 
communicating with the Imperial apartments had 
been quietly opened, and that a third person had 
entered. 

Seeing the strange attitude of the two, the new- 
comer remained, half surprised, half expectant, 
standing upon the threshold, while through the 
door, which he left open, the curious faces of 
others could be seen peering into the room from 
the closet beyond. 

At last the Baroness spoke, in clear, ringing 
tones. 

*‘You have uttered words which are unworthy 
of you,” she said. ‘‘Now listen to me, my brother. 
I will uphold the honor and loyalty of him whose 
name I bear with my dying breath, against you 
and all the world, even if it cost me that which was 
my dearest possession until he won my heart: 
your brotherly affection. Nay, hear me out, for 
it is best we should understand one another once 
for all. Were he proved to be your bitterest ene- 
my, Georg — which heaven forbid — ^yet he would 
still remain the husband to whom I have given 
my love, my all, irrevocably; whose honor is my 
honor, and whose fate, come what may, shall be 
my fate.” 

An impressive pause followed these words. It 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


319 


was broken by the voice of him at the door — a 
voice which betrayed a strange emotion. 

“Spoken like a true woman, Doctor Georg Ho- 
fer,” it said. “Indeed, Baron Frederick von Ar- 
nold recognizes but one judge between himself 
and the Duke of Cumbermere; and that judge is 
his own wife.” 

The effect of this speech upon the two to whom 
it was addressed was very different. Doctor 
Georg Hofer started at the sound of the voice he 
knew so well, and drew himself up with a gesture 
of proud defiance. His sister, on the other hand, 
gave a great gasp, and, turning tjuickly, faced the 
speaker with a look of half incredulous surprise. 
As her eyes fell upon him, however, she uttered a 
cry of delight, and the next instant, before the last 
word had yet left his lips, she darted across the 
room and flung herself sobbing on his breast. 

He had stepped forward quickly to receive her 
in his arms, and bending over her as she nestled 
in his embrace he touched her hair reverently 
with his lips. 

The scene that now followed would have of- 
fered wonderful possibilities to an artist gifted 
with a quick eye for contrasts. The group of on- 
lookers in the closet beyond had meanwhile 
pushed forward into the room, and now stood in 
a cluster upon the threshold and in the doorway. 
The expression on the faces of all, save one only. 


320 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


was one of such consummate consternation and 
horror that one might have imagined they were 
assisting at the supreme crisis of some terrible 
tragedy rather than witnessing a touching meet- 
ing between a husband and a wife. 

Doctor Hofer^s face had suddenly undergone a 
complete change. His attitude was no longer one 
of defiance, but of speechless amazement. Twice 
he made an effort to say something, but his lips 
refused to articulate, and he stood merely gazing 
as if in a dream upon the scene before him. 

The only person who seemed oblivious of every- 
thing around her was the Baroness herself. 

At last, with a mighty effort. Doctor Georg Ho- 
fer shook off the numbness that had apparently 
seized him. He took a quick step forward, and 
then halted abruptly. 

“Marie,” he said, in a tone in which so many 
different emotions seemed to be struggling for 
utterance that it was impossible to fix and dis- 
tinguish any single one, “if this man is your hus- 
band, he is not what you believe him to be.” 

She winced slightly, then looking up turned her 
head to him with an expression of silent reproach, 
but made no reply. Perhaps, however, the strange 
look on his face startled her, for she moved her 
eyes quickly from his to those of her husband, 
as if to appeal to him for an explanation. But he 
gave none. He merely returned her gaze with a 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


321 


steady, earnest look, which, if it contained a trace 
of anxious anticipation, was yet the same frank, 
fearless look she had always known and loved. 

“Marie,” her brother continued, now in cold, 
measured tones, “this man whom you claim as 
your husband is not Baron Frederick von Arnold. 
It is his Majesty Willibald II, Arminian Emperor 
and King of Brandenburg.” 

The words fell upon her like so many crushing 
weights. But for a moment she appeared unable 
to grasp their meaning. Then of a sudden the 
color forsook her cheeks, and her eyes wandered 
with a helpless look of appeal to the countenance 
of him whom she had thus heard apostrophized, 
and whose gaze was still bent upon her with the 
same earnest, expectant expression as before. 
From him they glanced furtively to the group of 
stern and silent figures in the background, of 
whose presence she seemed only now to have be- 
come conscious, and back again once more to 
her brother. Slowly the comprehension of it all 
appeared to dawn upon her, her breath came and 
went painfully, and she trembled so violently that 
she was obliged to clutch for support at the arm 
from which she had just half released herself. 

But the weakness lasted only an instant. With 
a sudden passionate gesture she flung herself en- 
tirely free, and stood alone and unsupported with 
flaming eyes before the man in whom she saw rep- 


322 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


resented at one and the same time all she had 
learned to hate and all she had learned to love. 

All the while the young Emperor had never 
removed his eyes from hers; nor did the steady, 
earnest look on his face change even now for one 
instant. But his lips pronounced a word, in a 
tone so low and so tender that none but she could 
have heard it. 

'‘Remember!” 

As it struck upon her ear, her features softened, 
and the warm blood returned to her cheeks with 
a sudden rush, suffusing them with a rosy tinge. 

Remember! Had it needed his reminder? 
What memories indeed did not come crowding 
into her mind at this moment? And perhaps the 
loudest and most pressing of them all was the 
memory of what her brother had told her before 
this last astounding revelation came upon her. 
She glanced wistfully across at him, where he 
stood, pale and proud, apparently waiting for 
some utterance from her. Yet what could he ex- 
pect? What dared he expect? She took a falter- 
ing step towards him, then wavered and stood 
still again. It was a moment of intense inner con- 
flict, each successive stage of which was depicted 
in her face with painful distinctness, a dumb, pa- 
thetic little history complete in itself. Suddenly, 
with a swift, impetuous movement, she raised 
her hand to her eyes, as if to banish the stern. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 323 

unbending countenance from her sight; then she 
tossed back her fair head resolutely. 

“Georg, Georg,” she cried. “What is the Ar- 
minian Emperor to me? This man is my hus- 
band.” 

A quick flash of intense joy lighted up the 
young Emperor’s face. The next instant he had 
claped her once more passionately in his arms. 

“Come,” he whispered, simply. And waving 
aside the silent group of men who blocked the 
doorway, he led her gently away. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE REVELATION: PART TWO. 

For the space of fully a minute complete silence 
reigned in the library; no one spoke or stirred. 
But, from the varied expressions on the faces of 
those who had witnessed this extraordinary scene, 
it was not difficult to gauge the emotions that 
were passing in their minds. 

The group at the door, as the reader will no 
doubt have partly guessed, consisted of the Im- 
perial Chancellor, Count Capricius, his colleague 
the Minister of War, the two chief officers of the 
Imperial household, and last, not least. Sir John 
Templeton. 


324 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


The latter was the first to move, and as he 
stepped forward with the evident intention of ap- 
proaching the Imperial secretary, who still stood 
motionless, gazing almost vacantly in the direc- 
tion of the doorway through which the Emperor 
and his bride had just passed out, the spell that 
had bound his companions seemed suddenly to 
break. With an exclamation, which sounded 
ominously like an oath. Count Capricius strode 
forward, and intercepted Sir John Templeton^s 
passage. 

Doctor Hofer glanced at the two men with a 
look of haughty inquiry. Sir John stopped in- 
stantly, and drew back to await events. 

While the incidents described at the close of 
the foregoing chapter were passing. Count Ca- 
pricius, like his companions, had stood literally 
rooted to the spot, scarcely realizing the true im- 
port of all he heard and saw. Now, it gradually 
crushed in upon him, and relieved from the re- 
straining influence of the Emperor’s presence, his 
blunt and somewhat impetuous nature, which, 
with all its foibles and shortcomings, was at bot- 
tom honesty and loyalty itself, asserted its sway, 
and his feelings took their natural course. 

“Sir,” he exclaimed, addressing Doctor Hofer 
in a tone of mingled desperation and rage, “this, 
then, has been the intrigue which has nearly cost 
Arminia her existence? Great heaven, what a 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


325 


fatality ! The Emperor, upon whose marriage the 
future of the Empire depends, inveigled into a 
morganatic union with a chaplain’s daughter.” 

The haughty stare on Doctor Hofer’s counte- 
nance did not relax, and the Chancellor, almost 
wringing his hands as all the consequences of the 
event that had astonished him so completely 
broke more and more forcibly upon his under- 
standing, turned away, incapable for the moment 
of giving further utterance to his feelings. 

To him this astounding step taken by his Im- 
perial master meant the collapse of all and every- 
thing. What would the world say of a sovereign 
who had callously sacrificed all his country’s in- 
terests for the sake of gratifying a foolish passion 
for an obscure beauty — the low-born sister of a 
desperate adventurer? For, that Doctor Hofer 
was an adventurer, and an adventurer of the most 
dangerous type, had long become a rooted con- 
viction in the mind of Count Capricius. It must 
be he, and he alone, who had made this monstrous 
thing possible. The Emperor’s strong aversion 
to contract a marriage with one of the many Eu- 
ropean Princesses who had in turn been pro- 
posed to him had grown perceptibly since his re- 
lations with this interloping secretary commenced; 
so much so, indeed, that for the last six months 
no one had had the courage to moot the question 
to him again. His Majesty had forbidden all men- 


326 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


tion of the matter, declaring peremptorily that he 
would make his choice at his own time and pleas- 
ure, and required no counsel and advice on the 
subject. 

Here, then, was the result. One hope only re- 
mained, that the Emperor would yet be persuaded 
of the folly of his act and agree to an annulment 
of this marriage before the knowledge of it 
reached the public. Such things had occurred be- 
fore now. Why should they not occur again? 
There was a notable case on record within quite 
recent times, a case where no less a personage 
than the uncle of his present Majesty and a reign- 
ing sovereign like himself had committed a simi- 
lar act of folly and been induced under pressure to 
revoke it. In what scathing terms had the Em- 
peror, then Prince Willibald, referred to this well- 
known scandal. Yet that sovereign's act was a 
far less reprehensible one in the Count’s eyes, for 
at least it had involved no question of succession. 

The precedent was valuable, and the memory of 
it, and of his Majesty’s attitude on that occasion, 
momentarily reassured the Chancellor. He turned 
once more brusquely to Doctor Hofer. 

‘This unhappy union must be dissolved without 
delay,” he said. “His Majesty, I feel confident, 
is too much imbued with the sense of the duty 
he owes to his country to persist on calm reflec- 
tion in maintaining a position that would be dis- 


THE VANISHED EMPEEOR. 


32t 


astrous to its most vital interests. He will yield 
to true counsel, unless the pernicious influence to 
which he has succumbed should prove stronger 
than I believe it to be. It is to you, therefore, 
that we look ” 

But Doctor Hofer interrupted him with a ges- 
ture of cold disdain. 

*‘Your Excellency,” he said calmly, “is singu- 
larly ill advised in addressing these remarks to 
me. This marriage, which meets with so much 
displeasure on your Excellency’s part, has had 
neither my consent nor approval, and I am the last 
person in the world likely to succeed in bringing 
about its annulment. The question that is exer- 
cising your Excellency’s mind is manifestly one 
which no one can decide but those whom it most 
nearly concerns : the Emperor and his consort the 
Empress.” 

He laid a slight stress upon the last word, then 
turned on his heel before the Chancellor could re- 
cover himself sufficiently to reply, and striding 
haughtily to the door leading to his apartments, 
passed out of the room without another word. 

The Chancellor gazed after him in dumb aston- 
ishment, until his stalwart figure had vanished. 
Then he cast a look of almost comically helpless 
appeal at his colleagues, who had drawn near dur- 
ing the foregoing conversation, and from them 
to Sir John Templeton. 


328 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“The Empress indeed? Is he mad?” he ejacu- 
lated at last. “This marriage not had his con- 
sent? Is he insolent enough to suppose — by 
heaven, he shall learn at least that there are men 
in Arminia who will not submit tamely to his up- 
start pride.” 

^ And glowing with newly kindled wrath he ad- 
vanced ponderously to the door, intending to fol- 
low the object of his resentment and renew the 
attack upon his own ground. 

This time it was Sir John Templeton who in- 
tercepted his passage. Stepping quickly for- 
ward, he barred the way. 

“Pardon me, your Excellency,” he said. “But 
you are about to do what you will assuredly re- 
gret.” 

“What?” exclaimed the irate Chancellor. “Do 
you dare to meddle with me and my doings? 
Stand aside, sir.” 

“I will stand aside when you have listened to 
me,” Sir John replied, unmoved. “Nay, no vio- 
lence, sir,” he added sternly, as the Chancellor, 
beside himself with anger, made a gesture towards 
his sword-hilt, as if he contemplated running his 
adversary through the body. “I am here at his 
Majesty’s commands, and it will be well for you 
to respect them. When you have heard me, you 
will act as you please. But I doubt if your Excel- 
lency will then still think fit to carry out your 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


329 


present intention of renewing an argument in 
which you must infallibly be worsted.” 

At the mention of the Emperor^s name the 
Chancellor's choler had received a slight check. 
But it now burst forth again afresh. 

“Worsted? By this scoundrelly adventurer?” 
he cried, flourishing his arms fiercely. “Who irf 
the devil’s name is this Doctor Hofer that I should 
shrink from speaking my mind to him as I list?” 

“That,” said Sir John, “ is a question very much 
to the point, and one which your Excellency 
would have done better to inform yourself upon 
sooner. I will answer it. The personage to whom 
your Excellency is pleased to refer as Doctor 
Georg Hofer is better known as his Royal High- 
ness the Duke of Cumbermere.” 

The effect of these quietly spoken words was 
astonishing. The Chancellor fell back with a 
look of blank incredulity, almost treading upon 
the toes of his companions behind him; while 
these latter stood open-mouthed, scarcely know- 
ing whether they were to take the matter seriously, 
or to treat it as a huge joke. Count Capricius him- 
self was at first inclined to regard it as an insolent 
jest, and to resent it accordingly. But a glance 
at the old diplomatist’s calm and serious face con- 
vinced him that, incomprehensible as it might 
seem to him, he had heard the truth. 

“The Duke of Cumbermere?” he stammered at 


330 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


last, after a momenfs silence. ‘This must be a 
fable.’’ 

“If your Excellency is of that opinion,” Sir 
John rejoined quietly, “I have nothing more to 
say. It is, however, within your Excellency’s 
power to ascertain whether I have spoken the 
truth by appealing direct to his Majesty the Em- 
peror for a corroboration of my statement. 
Whether it will be wise to do so under the circum- 
stances, I leave your Excellency to judge for 
yourself.” 

“But if this is true,” the Chancellor murmured, 
“the Emperor has in fact married ” 

“The Emperor has married her Royal High- 
ness the Princess Marie Victoria Augusta of No- 
veria,” Sir John said, “sometime known as 
Demoiselle Hofer.” 

The four men stared at one another blankly. 
The news seemed too good to be credited. 

“But all this is impossible,” the Minister of War 
burst out at last, stepping forward with an air of 
complete bewilderment. “We have definite in- 
telligence that the Duke of Cumbermere was cap- 
tured at the head of the insurgent forces in No- 
veria this morning; nay, I hold in my hand a dis- 
patch written a few hours ago by his Majesty him- 
self to the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial 
army in Noveria ordering the extreme penalty 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


331 


of the law to be enforced against this unfortunate 
Prince, should he fall into our hands.” 

Sir John Templeton looked at the speaker in 
surprise. 

“Do I gather from this,” he asked, “that your 
Excellency has ventured to delay the transmis- 
sion of this dispatch?” 

“And what if I have, sir?” the minister an- 
swered. “If my having done so should save his 
Majesty from a life-long bitter regret by giving 
him time to reflect upon the inevitable conse- 
quences of an act which all Europe will condemn, 
I will cheerfully bear the responsibility, whatever 
it may cost me.” 

Sir John Templeton shrugged his shoulders. 

“It is no concern of mine,” he replied. “But 
this action, if I am not much mistaken, will cost 
your Excellency your portfolio, if not something 
more precious still. I know his Majesty to be 
very much in earnest in his intentions towards 
this particular captive.” 

“But, in the name of all reason,” the Chan- 
cellor interposed, “if the real Duke of Cumber- 
mere is in Berolingen at this moment, who is 
this man who has been acting as his double in 
Noveria?” 

“It is the man, sir,” Sir John answered, “who 
has played the part of the Duke of Cumbermere 
in America, while the Duke of Cumbermere as- 


332 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


surtied the character of Doctor Georg Hofer in 
Europe; in other words, Doctor Georg Hofer 
himself. As your Excellency will perceive,” he 
went on, “he has somewhat over-acted his role, 
and seized the opportunity afforded him by his 
Princess unfortunate position at the court of his 
^ Majesty the Emperor to attempt to step entirely 
into his shoes and make a bold bid for the crown 
of Noveria on his own account. The fact that 
the person of the Duke of Cumbermere is practi- 
cally unkn.own to his adherents in Noveria ren- 
dered the success of this fraudulent imposture only 
too easy. For obvious reasons, however, his Maj- 
esty the Emperor is naturally anxious that the 
identity of this arch-traitor to his Prince and bene- 
factor should be established beyond a doubt, to 
the satisfaction of Europe in general and Noveria 
in particular. Hence this stern order to proceed 
against the alleged Duke of Cumbermere with 
swift and merciless rigor. His Majesty is a keen 
judge of human character, and knows that the 
man who will sacrifice every instinct of honor 
and loyalty for the sake of living as a king is not 
the man to covet the doubtful distinction of dying 
as a duke.” 

It was evident from the looks of those who lis- 
tened to this lucid exposition that it carried abso- 
lute conviction to their minds. Indeed, its cor- 
rectness could scarcely admit of a doubt. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


333 


Some moments passed, however, before the 
four Excellencies recovered from their intense 
surprise. The first to speak was the Minister of 
War, who had grown strangely pale, and whose 
face was now twitching like that of a man suffer- 
ing bodily pain. 

“Great heaven,” he stammered, “then this dis- 
patch to the Commander-in-Chief in Noveria 

“Is an instance of his Majesty^s admirable fore- 
sight, sir,” Sir John Templeton said. “The Em- 
peror is at this moment impatiently awaiting the 
news that Doctor Georg Hofer has saved his life 
by confessing that he is not the Duke of Cumber- 
mere. I need hardly impress upon your Excel- 
lency the urgent necessity of repairing this un- 
happy omission to obey his Majesty’s commands 
without delay, while there is yet time.” 

There was indeed no necessity for this piece of 
counsel. Before Sir John Templeton had finished 
speaking, the Minister of War had turned and 
fled from the room like one pursued by a thousand 
evil spirits. 

An interval of silence followed his abrupt de- 
parture, during which Sir John glanced with a 
twinkle of amused interest in his eyes at the faces 
of those who had remained behind. Two of them 
had sunk in a state of half collapse into chairs, 
being too much overcome by all they had heard 
and witnessed to support themselves any longer 


334 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


upon their legs. The Chancellor alone was still 
standing. But somehow his big, burly figure 
seemed less big and burly than usual, and he was 
wiping his brow nervously, as if his wits had been 
scattered and he were busily engaged in sweeping 
them together again. 

“It is all incomprehensible — astounding,” he 
murmured again and again, pacing the room in 
great perturbation. “The Princess Marie of No- 
veria Arminian Empress — her brother the Duke 
of Cumbermere himself at the court of Berolingen 
— while the man whose every movement has been 
carefully watched and reported to us all these 
years from America, in the belief that he was his 
Royal Highness, proves to be ” 

“Doctor Georg Hofer, the son of the late King 
of Noveria^s private chaplain and too much 
trusted friend of his namesake the Noverian Pre- 
tender,” Sir John said. “The fact, I fear, is un- 
deniable.” 

“But what object can his Royal Highness have 
had in placing himself in this extraordinary posi- 
tion?” 

“The object,” Sir John said, “is surely not far 
to seek. His Royal Highness is not unlike the 
Emperor in so far that he possesses a strong in- 
clination to manage his own affairs; and, indeed, 
it is more than likely that he would have succeeded 
to perfection in this very instance, had his Maj- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


335 


esty not proved to be an even greater adept in 
this rare art than the Duke himself. No doubt the 
chance circumstance that his Highness attract- 
ed his Majesty’s attention and won his friendship 
when studying under the name of Georg Hofer 
at the university of Bonn five years ago first sug- 
gested to him the possibility of bringing the 
weight of his personal influence permanently to 
bear upon the mind of the sovereign from whom 
he had so much to claim, and thus to ensure the 
successful issue of the negotiations which have 
been pending for so many years between the Gov- 
ernment of Brandenburg and the unfortunate 
house of Noveria, whose heritage it has swallowed 
up. The Emperor’s pressing offers of service to 
the man who had gained his youthful confidence 
probably ripened this idea, which would other- 
wise have died at its birth, into a firm resolve; 
and so the extraordinary event we are now con- 
templating came to pass.” 

“But the Princess,” said the Chancellor, who 
had followed these remarks with increasing in- 
terest. “When and where did his Majesty see 
her? And by what means did he discover the 
true identity of his private secretary?” 

“If your Excellency will recall to mind the cor- 
respondence that passed between his Royal High- 
ness and his substitute in America,” Sir John re- 
plied, “it may perhaps save the necessity for any 


336 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

further explanation. When Baron von Eller- 
mann, the Minister of Police, grew suspicious of 
this correspondence of his Majesty's secretary 
with the supposed Noverian Pretender, and em- 
ployed the means at his disposal to ascertain the 
nature of it, he little dreamed that fits Majesty's 
eyes would thereby be opened to a fact far more 
important than the comparatively harmless re- 
ports on the progress of Noverian affairs at the 
court of Berolingen, of which the contents of 
these letters were composed. I mean the fact — 
which had escaped his Excellency, and every one 
else who examined these letters — that the writer, 
and not the recipient, was the teal Duke of Cum- 
bermere. Carefully worded though they were to 
dupe the inquisitive reader, and indeed, his High- 
ness appears to have been so much alive to the 
likelihood of his correspondence being thus tam- 
pered with that he strictly preserved his assumed 
character even in the letters that passed between 
him and the Princess his sister, the double im- 
posture was not kept up cleverly enough to de- 
ceive so keen a mind as that of his Majesty." 

‘‘Yet his Majesty concealed this important dis- 
covery, not only from his own advisers, but from 
the Duke himself?" 

“No doubt for very good reasons." 

“This, then," exclaimed Count Capricius, “ex- 
plains the sudden rupture that took place between 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


337 


the Emperor and his private secretary six months 
ago.” 

'‘Not quite, I think,” Sir John observed. “Judg- 
ing from my own experience, I am convinced that 
his Majesty divined the true identity of the sup- 
posed Doctor Georg Hofer on reading the very 
first letter his Minister placed before him. But 
some time elapsed, as your Excellency may re- 
member, after that, before the coldness sprang 
up between them which ultimately resulted in his 
Royal Highness becoming virtually a prisoner at 
the court of Berolingen.” 

“You mean that his Majesty had other reasons 
than the mere fact of the deception that had been 
practiced upon him for acting as he did?” 

“Obviously,” Sir John answered. 

“And what were these reasons?” 

Sir John cast a side glance at the questioner. 

“That, sir,” he replied, “is for the present a 
secret which no one knows but the Emperor him- 
self.” 

“And of course the Duke of Cumbermere,” the 
Chancellor said quickly. 

“Possibly,” Sir John rejoined curtly. 

“But about the Princess,” the Chancellor went 
on, returning again to the chief subject of his 
curiosity. “Where did his Majesty see her; and 
why all this secrecy and disguise in making her 
his wife?” 


338 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


“Where his Majesty first set eyes on her Royal 
Highness it is impossible for me to say,” Sir John 
answered. “That he must have seen her on one 
of the various expeditions which he was in the 
habit of making in company with his private sec- 
retary, as your Excellency presumably knows, is 
certain. As for the reasons which prompted his 
Majesty to approach the Princess in the charac- 
ter of a man who is known to be one of the most 
loyal and enthusiastic adherents of the Noverian 
cause, they are not difficult to guess. Love is as 
potent with emperors and kings as it is with us 
humble mortals. His Majesty desired to gain, 
not only the Princess’ hand, but her heart, and I 
may leave your Excellency, whose acquaintance 
with the sentiments of her Highness is as com- 
plete as my own, to judge for yourself whether 
he would have been likely to secure the latter, 
had he wooed her as Emperor of Arminia.” 

“True,” the Chancellor said, reflectively, “there 
might have been some awkward conditions in 
such a case. On my faith,” he added admiringly, 
“his Majesty seeks his equal as a diplomatist and 
as a tactician.” 

The conviction that the Emperor, besides se- 
curing a suitable consort to share his crown, had 
done an exceptionally good political stroke, was 
fast dawning in his Excellency’s mind, and caused 
him unmingled satisfaction. It had always been 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


339 


his great fear that the Emperor would let himself 
be persuaded to make some unwise concession to 
the Noverian Pretender, whose recent succession 
to the sovereign Duchy of Brunsbiittel upon the 
death of the late Duke had made the question of 
his formal renunciation of all claims to the crown 
of Noveria a matter of increased importance to 
Brandenburg. Failing such a solemn renuncia- 
tion on the part of the Duke of Cumbermere, the 
Emperor, upon the demise of the late Duke of 
Brunsbiittel, had laid an immediate embargo 
upon that state, which with its rich revenues had 
become for the time, like Noveria, incorporated 
in the Kingdom of Brandenburg. To obtain the 
removal of this embargo, and an unconditional 
recognition of his right to enter upon the succes- 
sion to the Duchy of Brunsbuttel without preju- 
dice to his claim to the Noverian crown was 
known to be the primary object of the Duke of 
Cumbermere, and there had been good reason to 
believe that his Majesty personally was not dis- 
inclined to yield the point. What had caused him 
to change his mind, as he undoubtedly had, if it 
were not his displeasure at having been played 
upon by the Duke, was a matter which puzzled the 
Imperial Chancellor considerably. 

But there were other points that puzzled him 
still more, chief among which was the circum- 
stance that the Emperor, having once won the 


340 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


bride he had courted under so strange a guise, 
should have so long delayed making himself 
known to her in his true character. That he 
would have risked the consequences involved in 
his protracted absence from the helm of affairs 
for the mere sake of prolonging the calm enjoy- 
ment of an undisturbed honeymoon seemed in- 
deed quite out of the question. 

‘Tt is all a complete mystery,” the Chancellor 
said. ‘‘Surely, what his Majesty did to-day he 
might just as well have done three or four weeks 
ago, and all this terrible trouble and anxiety would 
have been spared us.” 

“Your Excellency always forgets,” Sir John re- 
marked with a slight shrug of the shoulders, “that 
his Majesty could have no knowledge of the events 
that were passing in his own country, seeing that 
his Government took every precaution to pre- 
vent them from gaining publicity. Moreover,” 
he added, with a twinkle of humor in his eyes, 
“the course of his Majesty^s honeymoon may not 
have run quite as smooth as he expected. It is 
not always as easy to undeceive as it is to deceive, 
especially where the most precious possession a 
man can covet is at stake — the heart of the woman 
he loves. Indeed, the fear may not unnaturally 
have assailed his Majesty that the Princess^ ha- 
tred of the Arminian Emperor would after all 
prove stronger than her love for the husband she 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


341 


had wedded. In short, your Excellency will read- 
ily perceive that the Emperor’s task was not ex- 
actly an enviable one, and that, on finding him- 
self at last face to face with it, his Majesty’s cour- 
age may possibly have been slightly at fault.” 

The Chancellor was silent a while. Then he 
turned abruptly to the speaker. 

“Tell me,” he said, eyeing him with a sudden 
look of suspicion; “you appear strangely well in- 
formed on all these matters. From what source 
did you learn that this famous Doctor Hofer was 
the Duke of Cumbermere?” 

“Your Excellency, I fear, has but a poor opin- 
ion of my intelligence,” Sir John said dryly. “I 
learned that fact when I reached the Arminian 
frontier on my journey from Vienna a week ago.” 

The Chancellor regarded him with a frown. 

“You are jesting,” he said. 

“By no means,” Sir John answered. “Your 
Excellency may remember that you were good 
enough to supply me with all the necessary ma- 
terials for this conjecture.” 

“Ha, you mean this correspondence?” 

“Precisely. The correspondence revealed to 
me what it had revealed to his Majesty the Em- 
peror, and it required but a short interview with 
the supposed Doctor Hofer himself to render the 
conjecture a conviction.” 

“And you thought fit to conceal this important 


342 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


fact from his Majesty^s ministers?” the Chancellor 
cried aghast. 

“Has your Excellency reason to regret that I 
did so?” Sir John replied. “I had undertaken to 
aid the Government in finding the vanished Em- 
peror, but not to betray the Duke of Cumbermere, 
whose life would assuredly not have been worth 
a minute^s purchase, had his true identity been 
disclosed under the unfortunate circumstances in 
which he was placed.” 

“The Duke knew, then, that you were in pos- 
session of his secret?” 

“He learned it on the night of her Majesty the 
Empress’ state ball; an hour before I started for 
Arnoldshausen.” 

The Chancellor gave a jump. 

“What?” he exclaimed in amazement. “It was 
you who brought the Emperor back to Berol- 
ingen?” 

“Has your Excellency ever doubted it?” Sir 
John rejoined. 

“But whence did you derive the knowledge 
that his Majesty was at Arnoldshausen?” 

“From the handwriting of the Duke of Cum- 
bermere,” Sir John answered. 

“From the Duke’s handwriting?” the Chancel- 
lor ejaculated, with a bewildered air. “You 
speak in riddles.” 

“The riddle is simple enough,” Sir John re- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


343 


joined. “Indeed, but for the unpardonable negli- 
gence of those upon whose information I needs 
had to rely, I should have known that Baron 
Frederick von Arnold and his Majesty the Ar- 
minian Emperor were one and the same person 
within an hour of my arrival in Berolingen.” 

The Chancellor’s face assumed an expression 
of incredulity. 

“Your Excellency, I see, is pleased to doubt 
my word,” Sir John pursued quietly. “Yet the 
conclusion I refer to was of the simplest imagin- 
able, and was actually within your Excellency’s 
own reach.” 

“How so?” the Chancellor asked, somewhat 
startled. “That this Baron von Arnold 

“That this Baron von Arnold,” Sir John said, 
“upon whom his Majesty’s Government has been 
keeping so diligent a watch during all these anx- 
ious weeks, was no other than the missing Em- 
peror himself. It was plainly evident from the 
correspondence between the supposed Doctor 
Georg Hofer and his sister that his Majesty had 
on more than one occasion seen the Princess 
Marie, and from the same correspondence it was 
not difficult to gather that the Duke, for reasons 
which I think are now sufficiently obvious, had 
used every endeavor to prevail upon his sister to 
take up her abode in the capital. She refuses, and 
within a few months enters into a supposed mes- 


344 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


alliance with Baron Frederick von Arnold, whom 
the Emperor, for no apparent object, had suddenly 
recalled from his banishment and reinstated in his 
possessions. What more natural than the infer- 
ence that the Emperor, failing other means of 
winning his beautiful bride, had paid his addesses 
to the Princess and married her as Baron von Ar- 
nold?” 

“Natural enough, indeed,” said the Chancellor 
ironically. “And yet you missed it.” 

“I missed it, sir,” Sir John Templeton answered 
sternly, “because there was one fact which ap- 
parently rendered the conclusion absurd; the 
fact that his Royal Highness had written several 
letters to the Princess subsequent to the Emper- 
oPs disappearance from Berolingen, and that 
therefore Baron Frederick von Arnold — in other 
words the Emperor himself — must have been all 
along fully aware of the disastrous state of affairs 
caused by his Majesty^s unaccountable absence. 
I missed it, sir,” he repeated, with increased em- 
phasis, “for lack of the important knowledge that, 
since the EmperoPs disappearance, his Majesty’s 
advisers had not been content with breaking open 
and copying the supposed Doctor Georg Hofer’s 
letters, but had actually retained possession of 
the original, thus unwittingly depriving his 
Majesty himself of the only source of information 
regarding the course of affairs during his ab- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


345 


sence, namely his wife’s correspondence with her 
brother.” 

A look of uneasiness came into the face of the 
Chancellor. 

“Well? And what of it?” he said stolidly. “Un- 
der the circumstances, it was manifestly the duty 
of the Government to adopt every precaution to 
insure his Majesty^s safety during his absence, 
and suspecting, not without reason, that this mys- 
terious Baron von Arnold and his wife were im- 
plicated in some conspiracy against his Majesty, 
whose disappearance, as you will remember, was 
believed to be connected with the rising in No- 
veria, they deemed it prudent to prevent any 
knowledge of his movements from reaching 
them.” 

“I am deeply obliged to your Excellency for 
this interesting explanation,” Sir John said dryly. 
“But unfortunately it does not explain why this 
all-important circumstance was withheld from me, 
and why I was left to discover by a chance glimpse 
of the Duke of Cumbermere’s handwriting that 
these fatal letters, which had been represented to 
me as copies, were in reality originals, the trans- 
mission of which had been arbitrarily stopped by 
the Imperial Government.” 

“The point appeared trifling; and moreover,” 
the Chancellor said, with increasing uneasiness, 
“there were delicate considerations involved — in 


346 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


short, his Majesty, though he had ordered a strict 
surveillance to be kept upon his secretary’s corre- 
spondence, had never authorized the detention of 
his letters. Of course, in the light of the present 
astounding disclosures ” 

“The blunder stands completely revealed,” Sir 
John said with the utmost blandness. “Indeed, 
but for the circumstance that his Royal Highness 
rejoices in so remarkably neat and clerkly a hand- 
writing that it was probably considered unneces- 
sary to make copies of these letters, I might never 
have had the opportunity of discovering the fact 
of their being originals; in which case his Maj- 
esty the Arminian Emperor would still be sojourn- 
ing at Arnoldshausen, in blissful ignorance that 
a universal conflict was raging in Europe, that 
his capital had fallen into the hands of a lawless 
mob, that the Duke of Cumbermere, his own 
brother-in-law, had been sacrificed to the fury of 
a fanatically excited populace, that his fellow- 
sovereigns were likely to share the same fate, and 
that his chosen ministers — but I may safely leave 
your Excellencies to complete the picture at your 
leisure,” he broke off, with a sweeping bow, in 
which he included the two grand officers of the 
Imperial household, who had meanwhile risen to 
their feet with a scared expression. “I have du- 
ties to fulfill, which are more urgent.” 

Saying which he turned away, and traversing 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 347 

the library vanished into the adjoining apartment, 
hitherto known as the official abode of his Majes- 
ty's private secretary, before either the Chancellor 
or his two companions could give utterance to the 
feelings his words had called forth in them. 

The three Excellencies remained standing in 
a group, gazing at each other with open mouths 
and somewhat rueful countenances, amazed, per- 
plexed, and silent. 

And so, with the reader's permission, we will 
leave them. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

HOW THE NOVERIAN QUESTION WAS SETTLED. 

The Arminian Emperor had won the day. No 
one realized this more fully and felt it more deeply 
than Georg, Duke of Cumbermere. He had 
played for a high stake, and had lost — had lost 
even more than he had staked. 

Proud man as he was, and conscious of his own 
personal powers — else had he ventured to attempt 
single-handed what the combined wit and wisdom 
of his many counsellors had failed to accomplish? 
— the wound to his pride was almost the hardest 
part of what he had to bear. Almost. For his 
defeat touched him in a spot even more sensitive 


348 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


still: his heart; and the wound here was the 
greater, that he knew, or at least believed, that, 
but for the trickery of his own heart, he would 
not have failed in his purpose as he had. 

That purpose had been purely political. To 
use the influence he believed himself to possess 
over the mind of the young monarch who had 
been so curiously attracted towards him in his stu- 
dent days, in order to bring about a favorable 
settlement of the question of his succession to the 
Duchy of Brunsbiittel, and perhaps even an un- 
derstanding in regard to his claim to the crown 
of Noveria, had been the sole object of the strange 
and daring enterprise in which he now saw him- 
self so ignominiously foiled. To that object, how- 
ever, another had been added in "the course of 
time, and had, so he thought, thwarted it. 

In coming to Berolingen, and placing himself 
under the roof of the Arminian Emperor, he had 
not calculated that he might find there something 
which would become more precious to him than 
that which he had come to seek. Although by 
several years the Emperor’s senior, he had as yet 
had no experience of the softer passions. His 
life had been that of a man who is born with a 
grievous wrong, and whose duty is to get it re- 
dressed; who inherits a solemn, immutable pur- 
pose, and knows no other thought or pursuit on 
earth than that of fulfilling it. All the softer ele- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


349 


ments of his character had been wrapped in the 
sister in whom he recognized the feminine coun- 
terpart of himself, and into whose soul he had 
from her earliest infancy instilled all those stern 
principles of undeviating loyalty to the righteous 
cause of the house they both sprang from, which 
made up the sum total of his own nature. He had 
loved her passionately, nay, even jealously. Un- 
til he separated from her a year ago, for the first 
time since she had outgrown her childhood, in 
order to carry out his bold venture at the court 
of Berolingen, the very notion of her marrying 
had been painful and repugnant to him in the ex- 
treme. That the question of her marriage might 
one day become a factor, and an important fac- 
tor, in his own political schemes had never oc- 
curred to him. 

And yet it had so proved. The experience of 
his own heart, which had felt for the first time the 
irresistible power of love, had opened his eyes to 
a possibility he might otherwise have never 
dreamed of. Judging from its influence upon 
himself and his own actions, he had confidently 
reckoned upon a like result in the case of the 
young Emperor. The first meeting between the 
latter and the Princess Marie, of which her Royal 
Highness had been totally unconscious, had been 
brought about without any ulterior design on his 
part. The second meeting, which had passed in 


350 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

like manner so far as the Princess was concerned, 
had been deliberately planned, and its effect upon 
the young monarch had been such as to raise 
hopes in the Duke which he felt sure the presence 
of the Princess in the capital would make a reality. 
He knew her, and placed absolute reliance upon 
her strength of mind and the steadfastness of her 
principles. He knew the Emperor, too, and his 
resolute, wilful nature, his love of the uncommon, 
and his tenacity of purpose, which only grew in 
proportion to the greatness of the obstacles he 
found opposed to him. The result seemed al- 
most a foregone conclusion. 

How he had inwardly exulted at the prospect 
of seeing the man at whose hands he was suing 
for that which in justice should have been his un- 
asked, himself a suitor for a possession against 
which, as he now knew, every other earthly pos- 
session was as naught. How he had chafed at 
the unexpected check his plans had sustained by 
the refusal of his sister to obey his summons to 
join him in Berolingen. He had considered this 
check merely a temporary one, and had trusted to 
time to overcome what he looked upon as the 
mere extravagance of girlish sentimentality. The 
sudden change in the attitude of the Emperor, the 
recall of Baron von Arnold, so inexplicable to 
him, and then this thrice-accursed marriage, which 
he had in vain striven to prevent, had crushed his 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


351 


hopes irretrievably. But at least he had still de- 
rived some comfort from the reflection that fate 
alone — the cruel force of adverse circumstances — 
had destroyed his well-laid plans. What he now 
felt was the humiliation, so terribly galling to a 
proud, self-reliant nature like his, of having been 
outwitted by another, and that other the very 
man whom he had confidently expected to lead at 
will. 

The hot blood rushed to his cheeks at the 
thought that he had been known to the Emperor 
all these months, that his most secret plans had 
been to him as an open book. For could he 
doubt that his Majesty had fathomed that which 
none but he alone could have known? By what 
means it had been accomplished he was at a loss 
to conceive. But the fact was there. The tables 
had been turned upon him with a master hand, 
and he now found himself in the very position it 
had been his design to place the Emperor in — 
that of a claimant, a humble supplicant for the 
costliest treasure a man^s heart can covet. 

It was characteristic that at this moment, when 
he saw the labor of these long years wasted, the 
entire fabric of his lifers hope collapsed, the one 
thought predominant in his mind should have 
been, not the loss of that for which he had striven 
with so much tenacity and self-sacrifice, but the 
threatened destruction of that newer and sweeter 


352 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


hope which had been born in him within the last 
few months and had superseded all others in his 
breast. 

The Duke of Cumbermere loved, and his love 
governed his thoughts, and would, he felt, govern 
his actions, as he had hoped love would govern 
the thoughts and actions of the Arminian Em- 
peror. He scarcely evinced more than a passing 
interest in the important news, conveyed to him 
by Sir John Templeton, that the pseudo-Duke — 
the friend who had betrayed him — had surren- 
dered to the Imperial forces, and that the rebellion 
which once seemed so formidable, and which had 
added so terribly to his own grave difficulties, had 
ended in mere vapor. 

‘T am in his Majesty’s hands,” he said coldly, 
in reply to the communication made to him by 
Sir John that the Emperor would deal with this 
abandoned traitor in accordance with the Duke’s 
own wishes. “Let him act as he pleases.’ 

Therewith he turned away. 

But Sir John Templeton’s task was not com- 
pleted, and he stayed. To him the spectacle of 
this proud, determined nature, struggling with 
the humiliating sense of a position from which it 
seemed impossible for him to extricate himself 
without loss of dignity, was deeply pathetic. He 
thought of that first interview between them in 
this same room, not a week ago, when, bit by bit, 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


353 


he had drawn from him all those facts which he 
required for the elucidation of the strange mys- 
tery that was exercising everyone^s mind; all, 
that is to say, save one — the true object of his 
presence at the court of the Arminian Emperor. 
Yet even that one had been known to him, only 
the knowledge had been rendered useless by the 
foolish deception of others, which had diverted 
him from the conclusion it would otherwise have 
led him to. 

Upon what trifles do not the greatest of events 
turn! It was an experience Sir John Templeton 
made every day of his life almost, and still the 
experience seemed ever fresh and new 

“Well?” said the Duke, seeing that he still tar- 
ried. “Have you any further communication 
to make to me? It seems there can be nothing 
more to apprise me of. His Majesty, who has his 
own notion of the laws of hospitality, has in turn 
violated the sanctity of my correspondence, held 
me a prisoner at his court, and finally taken the 
hand of the Princess my sister by force — or at 
least without the consent of him who alone had 
the right to bestow it. I know not what further 
indignity he may intend to impose upon me. 

“I think none,’’ Sir John Templeton replied. 
“Nor, if your Royal Highness will permit me to 
say so, do I think his Majesty’s actions, which 
your Highness refers to in such scathing terms. 


354 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


will, on mature consideration, appear in so repre- 
hensible light to the man by whom they were, after 
all, called forth. Pardon my frankness, sir; but 
justice is justice, and if his Majesty the Emperor 
has married her Royal Highness the Princess 
Marie without her brothers formal consent, he 
has not done so without having documentary 
proof of her brother’s desire that he should pay 
his addresses to her, which, under the circum- 
stances, he may well have been justified in re- 
garding as tantamount to a consent.” 

“I do not understand,” the Duke said, glancing 
at him with an uneasy look. 

'‘Your Royal Highness,” Sir John went on, 
“forgets that the Emperor has possessed knowl- 
edge of the whole correspondence which passed 
between his private secretary and the supposed 
Duke of Cumbermere in America.” 

“Well?” the Duke said impatiently. 

“Copies of all these letters, sir, as you know, 
passed into the hands of his Majesty’s Govern- 
ment, with the exception, however, of one, which 
was retained by his Majesty in the original, and 
consequently never reached its destination. That 
letter, which was written six months ago by the 
Emperor’s private secretary to his American cor- 
respondent, contains a reference to the fact that a 
certain personage, whose identity it is not difficult 
to guess, had become deeply enamored of the 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


355 


beautiful Demoiselle Hofer, and dilates at some 
length upon the purpose to which this unexpected 
circumstance was to be turned. Can it surprise 
your Highness that his Majesty, thus timely fore- 
warned of a scheme which threatened not only the 
interests of his Empire, but those of his own heart, 
should have promptly turned the schemer’s wea- 
pon against himself and made him the victim of 
his own plot?” 

The Duke^s countenance had grown pale during 
this speech, and his brow had contracted as if 
with absolute pain. What a miserable, unworthy 
farce it all seemed to him, now that it had failed, 
and he regarded it, so to speak, with another’s 
eyes, this exchanging of roles with one who was 
his own servant and who had ended by basely 
betraying him. The thought humbled him inex- 
pressibly. The bitterness of failure lies less in 
the regrets it engenders than in the fact that it 
leaves a stigma behind it which nothing can wipe 
out. Who does not know that what is universally 
applauded as clever when it succeeds is laughed 
at as excessively foolish when it fails; that the 
same actions which success stamps with the stamp 
of greatness and genius become vile and con- 
temptible in man’s eyes when the curse of failure 
attends them? The Duke of Cumbermere, in 
spite of his pride — perhaps because of his pride — 


356 THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 

was not above the fear of ridicule, nor impervious 
to the opinions of his fellow men. 

“His Majesty has retained this letter, you say?” 
he asked, after a moment’s silence, in a low, con- 
strained voice. 

Sir John Templeton bowed an assent. 

“And you have seen it?” 

“I have seen it.” 

The Duke paced the room in considerable per- 
turbation. Presently he stood still in front of his 
visitor. 

“What is your object in telling me this?” he 
asked. 

“I have done so at his Majesty’s desire,” Sir 
John answered. 

“As a preliminary, I presume,” the Duke said, 
“to informing me of the price his Majesty places 
upon this document?” 

“As a preliminary to returning the document 
to your Royal Highness to deal with as you 
please,” Sir John rejoined gravely, drawing forth 
the letter and handing it to the Prince. “It is my 
good fortune, it seems,” he added, with a twinkle 
of humor, as the Duke grasped the document 
with a sigh of relief, “to be the medium of re- 
storing your Highness’ letters, and this one, I 
may safely assume, will not have less value in 
your eyes than the last I had the honor to place 
in your Highness’ hands, in which you had un- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


357 


wisely attempted to convey the intelligence to 
your friends in Noveria that the real Duke of 
Cumbermere was a captive at the Imperial court 
of Berolingen, and not, as was supposed, braving 
the army of the Emperor at the head of a band of 
foolish, hot-headed rebels.” 

The Duke gazed at him in wonder. 

‘‘You knew this?” he said. 

“Since I knew that the supposed Doctor Georg 
Hofer was the Duke of Cumbermere, as I con- 
fided to your Royal Highness on that occasion, 
the inference was inevitable,” Sir John replied. 

“And what are his Majesty^s present inten- 
tions?” the Duke asked abruptly. 

“They depend entirely upon your Royal High- 
ness’ intentions,” Sir John said. 

“Ha!” the Duke exclaimed. “He thinks to 
make his own terms with me?” 

“On the contrary, sir,” the old diplomatist said, 
“his Majesty makes no terms whatever. He 
knows your Royal Highness too well to believe 
that you could under any circumstances depart 
from the firm principle which has governed your 
whole life, and which he both admires and re- 
spects — that of adhering unalterably to the policy 
of your late father, the King of Noveria. He is 
aware that it is impossible for your Royal High- 
ness, consistently with that inherited principle, to 
relinquish your claim to the throne of Noveria, 


358 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


and that consequently Brandenburg can never 
recognize your Royal Highness^ succession to 
the ducal crown of Brunsbuttel.” 

The Duke fell back with an expression of dis- 
may. 

‘Tn other words,” he said, “his Majesty, know- 
ing that he is in a position to withhold from me 
that which is mine by divine right, does me the 
honor to refuse its free acceptance at my hands? 
Truly, his generosity amazes me.” 

“Your Royal Highness misinterprets his Maj- 
esty’s intentions, which are indeed conceived in a 
true spirit of generosity toward your Highness,” 
Sir John said. “Does it not occur to you, sir, that 
his Majesty, having reason to believe that your 
Highness has a very precious favor to crave at 
his hands, may be desirous of assuring you that, 
should it be granted, it will be done without loss 
of dignity to yourself?” 

“I do not follow your meaning,” the Duke 
said, though the heightened color now visible in 
his cheeks plainly belied his words. 

“What I mean, sir, is this,” Sir John went on. 
“His Majesty conceives that what honor forbids 
the Duke of Cumbermere to do for himself it 
may possibly not forbid the Duke of Cumbermere 
to do for his son. Should your Royal Highness, 
therefore, contract a marriage which meets with 
the approval of the Crown of Brandenburg, his 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


359 


Majesty on his part proposes to secure the suc- 
cession to the duchy of Brunsbuttel to the male 
issue of such marriage, provided the claim to the 
Noverian throne be formally renounced on behalf 
of that issue.” 

“Which means?” the Duke asked, fixing his 
companion with a penetrating glance. 

“Which means, sir,” Sir John answered, re- 
turning the look unflinchingly, “if I may venture 
to interpret his Majesty’s sentiments, that the 
Emperor’s love for his sister the Princess Mar- 
garet is second only to that which he bears to the 
Imperial lady who now shares his throne.” 

The Duke made no reply. But the light that 
glistened in his dark eyes, as he strode thought- 
fully up and down the apartment, showed that 
the gentle thrust had gone straight home. 

Sir John Templeton waited in silence for him 
to speak. 

“Is this all you have to communicate to me?” 
he asked presently, interrupting his promenade. 

“It is all,” Sir John answered. 

“Then I beg of you to leave me,” the Duke 
rejoined curtly. “You have supplied me with 
material for much earnest thought, and I require 
leisure to digest it.” 

Sir John Templeton bowed, and turned to go. 

Before he had reached the door the Duke, 


360 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


obeying a sudden impulse, strode after him and 
placed his hand upon his shoulder. 

“Do not misunderstand me,” he said, in a tone 
of unusual warmth. “I am not ungrateful. You 
have rendered me a service I am not likely to 
forget, and I recognize it. Would heaven it had 
proved of more avail.” 

He left him as abruptly as he had approached 
him, and Sir John Templeton bowed once more 
and withdrew. 

J}t * 5^ ♦ 

Two hours later the Duke of Cumbermere 
sought an audience of his Majesty the Arminian 
Emperor, and remained closeted with him for 
some time. What passed at this interview it is 
impossible for me to say. The result, however, 
is a matter of current history, and within the 
knowledge of every well-informed reader. 

The betrothal of the Duke of Cumbermere, the 
Noverian pretender, to the Princess Margaret of 
Brandenburg, the favorite sister of the Emperor 
of Arminia, was an event in European history 
which caused too great a sensation at the time of 
its occurrence to require recalling to men^s minds 
at the present day. The sensation was only sur- 
passed by that attending the news that his Majesty 
had at last selected a bride in the person of her 
Royal Highness the Princess Marie of Noveria. 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


361 


As no rumor of such a possibility had reached the 
ears of the world, the most extravagantly roman- 
tic stories regarding the circumstances of the Em- 
peror^s courtship were soon in circulation. But, 
needless to say, none even remotely approached 
the truth. The world marveled a little at the un- 
precedented rapidity with which the preparations 
for the Imperial nuptials were instantly pushed 
forward. But among the host of those who at- 
tended that imposing ceremony — and I was of the 
number — there were only half a dozen men who 
knew that the illustrious couple that day stand- 
ing before the cathedral altar were, as a matter 
of fact, then receiving the priestly benediction for 
the second time. 

Gossip at the Arminian court was meanwhile, of 
course, busily engaged in connecting the various 
events of the past month and constructing a fabric 
of its own, of which certain details may still in- 
terest the reader. 

The disappearance of Baron Frederick von 
Arnold on the eve of the surrender of the No- 
verian rebels with their leader, the pseudo Duke 
of Cumbermere, admitted but of one explanation, 
namely that the Baron had been implicated in the 
daring attempt of the now notorious Doctor 
Georg Hofer to pose as the Duke, and, having 
received private intimation of the impending 
failure of that attempt, had fled the country, to- 


362 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


gether with his wife, the scheming sister of that 
luckless conspirator. 

There were those, however, who maintained 
that the marriage of the Baron had been a com- 
plete fiction; that it had never taken place, and 
that such a personage as Demoiselle Hofer had 
never existed, or, if she had, that she had been a 
secret agent of the Duke’s, who had passed for 
the sister of the Imperial Secretary in order the 
better to facilitate the communications that passed 
between them. Others, again, professed to know 
that Baron von Arnold had plotted to gain the 
hand of the Princess Marie herself, but had failed, 
owing to the timely intervention of the Emperor. 

When, some months afterward, the real Baron 
von Arnold, with many other banished adherents 
of the Noverian pretender, received the Emperor’s 
permission — granted, it was said, at the instance 
of the Duke of Cumbermere himself — to return 
to his estates, these various stories were revived 
again, and, since he returned without a wife, the 
version which assumed his marriage to have been 
a fiction naturally carried the day. The Baron 
himself, who now again enjoyed the highest favor 
of his former patron, the Duke of Cumbermere — 
a fact which became a subject of much puzzled 
comment on the part of the curious, who could not 
reconcile it with past events — vouchsafed no sat- 
isfactory explanation to those who had the hardi- 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


363 


hood to question him on the subject of his alleged 
participation in the famous Noverian conspiracy. 
Indeed, he is said to have silenced one particu- 
larly pertinacious inquirer by assuring him blandly 
that, on reference to his diary, he had reason to 
believe that at the time of the occurrences in No- 
veria he was engaged on a scientific expedition 
to North Siberia, and must, therefore, disclaim 
all knowledge of West European affairs during 
that period ; a statement which of course was ac- 
cepted with a smile of intelligent comprehension 
by its recipient. 

The Baron never set foot in Arnoldshausen, 
and shortly after his return sold that estate to 
the Duke of Cumbermere, who presented it as a 
peace offering to his sister, the Empress, much to 
the dissatisfaction of the worthy villagers, who 
found themselves once more dependent upon the 
tender mercies of the Crown Steward for the rec- 
ognition of those rights and privileges which they 
were incessantly laboring to maintain. 

The commutation of the sentence of death 
passed upon the rebel leader. Doctor Georg Ho- 
fer, into a sentence of lifelong incarceration in 
the fortress of Spandberg met with little approval 
in the Arminian press, which gave bold expres- 
sion to the opinion that his Majesty, in dealing 
thus lightly with a most dangerous criminal, had 
erred lamentably on the side of leniency. But the 


364 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


Emperor, as everybody knows, cares not two- 
pence for the opinion of the press, and he went 
his own way. The sudden dismissal of the Min- 
ister of War, which took place at the same time, 
caused some surprise to those who knew how 
high he had stood in the Imperial favor. But the 
incident faded into comparative insignificance 
when, almost immediately afterward, the Imperial 
Chancellor himself tendered his resignation, and 
the same was promptly accepted by his Majesty. 

These, then, were the chief events that occupied 
the court gossips during the days immediately fol- 
lowing the Emperor’s return. To the world at 
large, of course, they were of too little moment to 
call for more than a passing notice. Moreover, 
general public attention was just then engrossed 
by something far more important. The sudden 
subsiding of the stupendous political hurricane 
which had swept over Europe for more than three 
weeks was a subject of no less amazement than 
had been produced by its equally sudden out- 
burst a month before. Now that all was over, 
and people had leisure and the peace of mind to 
reflect calmly on the tremendous danger they had 
passed through, everyone’s thoughts turned once 
more to the mysterious cause of it. 

Volumes upon volumes have since been written 
upon the subject, and every possible theory under 
the sun has been propounded in explanation of 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR. 


365 


the young Emperor’s purpose in vanishing com- 
pletely from men’s view for so long a period. 

I venture to think that, with the exception of 
the three personages who figure most prominently 
in the foregoing pages, no living man has fath- 
omed the whole truth of that mysterious event; 
and even the three personages I refer to may 
perhaps find much that is new to them in the his- 
tory I have just brought to a conclusion. 

Before taking final leave of the reader, I would 
only add one more fact, which, if I may judge his 
sentiments by my own, he will not regard as the 
least interesting of those here related. 

Among the countless trophies and mementoes 
of a career full of strange incident and restless 
activity which adorn Sir John Templeton’s resi- 
dence in Vienna, there may be seen at this day a 
marble bust of her Majesty the Queen, executed 
by her Imperial Majesty the Dowager Empress of 
Arminia. It stands upon a handsome pillar to 
the right of the old diplomatist’s writing tablp, and 
in a tiny gold frame beside it lies a card, on which 
the following words are written in a well-known 
hand: 


366 


THE VANISHED EMPEROR, 


TO SIR JOHN TEMPLETON 
As a mark of my esteem, and in grateful 
recognition of the services rendered by 
him to one who is very dear to me. 

The signature affixed to these gracious words 
I may safely leave the reader to guess. 


THE END. 


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